Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, John Gormley, presented the awards to 19 schools.

The Green Schools programme is an initiative to ensure that students learn the importance of environmental issues and how to tackle them in their school and home lives.

Having the rights to fly a green flag at a school is recognition of achieving the standards set by the Green School programme.

More than 1,300 schools in Ireland have earned the accolade to date.

Presenting the awards, Mr Gormley said that reaching the necessary standards is a significant undertaking for schools.

“With all your good work on litter, waste, energy and water you are creating an improved environment for everyone and are helping in the fight against climate change,” he said.

The Green Schools programme is administered by An Taisce Education and is based on seven steps for schools to follow in order to educate children about environmental issues.

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