Untimely Passing Of Paul McSweeney - A True Champion Of Sustainability
It is with deep sadness we learned of the untimely passing of a great man, devoted husband & dad, adventurer, musician, sportsman, and true champion of Sustainability and the Green Economy, Paul McSweeney, in mid-September 2025. Anyone who engaged with Paul would have enjoyed his passion and conviction for doing what is right for our planet and everything living on it.
Sustainable to his fingertips, Paul was passionate about all things circular, wearing pre-loved clothing, using upcycled phones, as well as growing his own fruit and vegetables at home. He was especially proud of being able to dismantle, reconstruct and maintain older bicycles, giving them a new lease of life.
With his wealth of knowledge, he would explain in great detail what really happens to items people in Ireland send for recycling in our green and brown bins, and how things are not as most of us would expect. He craved telling the truth about climate crises realities versus the greenwashing being promulgated by vested interests around the world.
Paul’s passion and talents extended to other areas including tennis, cycling, skiing, travel, music, languages and above all, his family. Paul loved and was very proud of his wife Gemma and his four children and how they all achieved success. He was an intelligent, caring and genuine man, with an incredible set of talents from multiple language fluency to global affairs knowledge, playing music and doing great impressions. He approached everything with energy and conviction.
An example of his generosity of spirit was when he was invited by an Irish charity Serve the City Ireland to give a talk to some migrants who were living in Direct Provision Centres but were really keen to learn about Ireland, our culture, values, and care for the environment. Paul did this in a gentle yet meaningful way, and his talk was warmly received, with lots of queries and dialogue.
Paul was very actively engaged in CIRCULÉIRE, the circular economy network in Ireland and was highly respected across its membership. A few years ago, at short notice, he was invited to stand in for someone who could no longer travel to an international event in Dubai where he happily presented, networked, and took questions from delegates and government representatives. He also attended other national and international conferences, workshops and lectured to third level graduates on circularity and sustainability - always with energy, enthusiasm and commitment. He was delighted to be invited, as a subject matter expert, to participate in the Techies Go Green Conference in the Guinness Enterprise Centre in Dublin in October 2024.
For those who may not know, Paul created a solution, ZeroNet, for the recovery/recycling of domestic eWaste, and completed a successful project which ran for over 2 years in Brighton in the UK, with an astonishing 35% recycle rate. He was in the process of launching similar projects here in Ireland and his family, friends and associates are examining how those might be continued and evolved, which would be a fitting legacy for him.
Paul will be very missed by his family and friends and by many in the sustainability, circular economy and biodiversity communities, and he will be remembered as a true Champion of the Circular Economy.
May he rest in peace.
Paul was an active member of the Techies Go Green community who generously gave his time and expertise to make our Techies Go Green events a great success. He will be missed by the team at Techies Go Green.