Mayor plants first apple tree as part of Lucan's €300k - Have Your Say Initiative

26/03/2018

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Mayor plants first apple tree as part of Lucan’s €300k – Have Your Say Initiative

Mayor of South Dublin County Council, Cllr. Paul Gogarty, has planted an apple tree in Vesey Park, Lucan, the first of almost 70 native apple trees to be planted in community orchards in South Dublin. This initiative was a winning project in South Dublin County Council’s first year of the €300k Have Your Say scheme which covered the Lucan electoral area (Lucan, Palmerstown and Adamstown).

The Public Realm Section of South Dublin County Council will plant community orchards in Lucan Demesne, Vesey Park, Griffeen Valley Park, Willsbrook Park, Lucan and Waterstown Park, Palmerstown. Apple tree varieties to be planted include, ‘Kerry Pippin’, ‘Katy’, ‘James Grieve’, ‘Gibbons Russet’, ‘Ross Non Pareil’ which are sweet tasting and suitable for eating. Other varieties like ‘Bramley’ will be planted for cooking.

Mayor Gogarty said “I am delighted to be able to plant the first apple tree as part of the €300k Have Your Say initiative. Trees make a major contribution to the character, appearance and well-being of South Dublin County. They also enhance biodiversity and play an important role in mitigating climate change. Because apples, like most fruits, need to be cross-pollinated by insects to ensure the formation of fruit, it’s important to plant more than one variety so that bees and other pollinators can transfer pollen between them, and with this in mind, the Council’s Public Realm section will plant a number of varieties across the area. We hear a lot about our declining bee populations and so in planting apple orchards we are enhancing the landscape and contributing to the All Ireland Pollinator Plan 2015-2020.”

In 2017 South Dublin County Council launched the very first Participatory Budgeting process in Ireland with the €300k – Have Your Say initiative. The Lucan electoral area, which includes Adamstown and Palmerstown, was the first area in the Country to take part. Over 160 ideas were generated through a combination of workshops and online submissions. 17 projects were voted on and 8 ideas were selected to be acted upon. One of these ideas was to plant native apple trees in the Lucan Electoral area.

Ends

Photograph 1: L/R Mayor Paul Gogarty, Mary Keenan Senior Executive Parks Superintendent SDCC, Brendan Cahill Foreman of Works SDCC, Olive Harrington Executive Parks Superintendent SDCC, Alain Bourgrois, SDCC, Eddie McManamon Craft Gardener SDCC.

Photograph 2: Eddie McManamon Craft Gardener, Brendan Cahill Foreman of Works, Alain Bourgrois Van Driver, South Dublin County Council

Photograph 3: Mayor Paul Gogarty, Brendan Cahill Foreman of Works, South Dublin County Council

For the editor:

The All Ireland Pollinator Plan is about providing food and shelter across all types of land so that pollinators can survive and thrive. Without the pollination service freely provided by our bees and hoverflies, it would be increasingly difficult and expensive to produce some crops and could result in a loss of consumer choice for Irish grown products. The beauty of the Irish landscape would also be affected without pollinators to maintain the diversity of our wild plants and support healthy ecosystems.

This pollinator plan is about all of us, from farmers to local authorities, to schools, gardeners and businesses, coming together to try to and do our bit for the wider environment where pollinators like bees can survive and thrive.

South Dublin County is one of four local authority areas in the Dublin region.

South Dublin County Council provides and funds a broad range of services including housing, roads, walking and cycling routes, parks and playgrounds, libraries, sports facilities, litter control, arts centres, enterprise units, fire services, community infrastructure and financial supports. It also serves as a platform for local democracy with 40 councillors spread across six electoral areas.

Bounded by the River Liffey to the North and the Dublin Mountains to the South, the County lies 16 kilometres south west of Dublin city centre and has an administrative footprint of 223sq. kilometres. The County has nine main villages Clondalkin, Lucan, Palmerstown, Rathfarnham, Tallaght, Templeogue, Saggart, Rathcoole and Newcastle and is bounded by adjoining counties of Wicklow, Kildare, Dublin City, Fingal and Dun Laoghaire.

Images

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  Photo 1: Mayor Paul Gogarty, Mary Keenan, Brendan Cahill, Olive Harrington, Alain Bourgrois, Eddie McManamon all SDCC
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  Photo 2: Eddie McManamon Craft Gardener, Brendan Cahill Foreman of Works, Alain Bourgrois Van Driver, SDCC
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  Photo 3: Mayor Paul Gogarty and Brendan Cahill Foreman of Works, South Dublin County Council