28/05/2009
Archived item. This item is published here for historical reasons. The information below may be out of date.
PRESS RELEASE ISSUED 28TH MAY 2009
Official opening of Waterstown Park, Thursday 28th May 2.30pm
On Thursday 28th May at 2.30pm Waterstown Park Liffey Valley will be officially opened by Deputy Mayor, Gus OConnell. The park is a wonderful amenity for the people of Palmerston and the recent development works here will provide a greater level of accessibility to the Liffey Valley to people right across the county.
Along with a new carpark there are now over 5 km of paths through the scenic Liffey Valley and a 2km cycle track. It is one of the first publicly accessible parts of the river Liffey outside of the city. It is also the most valuable park in South Dublin County in terms of its ecological diversity with over 300 species of plants, animals and birds. This diversity is particularly important given the parks urbanised setting. Waterstown Park also has areas of national and international importance as it lies within the area covered by the Liffey Valley Special Amenity Area Order and part of it is covered by a proposed Natural Heritage Area designation.
Over the past number of years several developments have taken place to make the park accessible to the public. The network of paths and cycle tracks allow greater access into the Liffey Valley and along the banks of the Liffey. The new car park was built as a shared facility with Stewards Hospital providing mutual benefits to users of both facilities. The Parks Department now have a temporary work compound in the park which has greatly improved the security and maintenance in the park. Much of the development which has taken place has been based on the recommendations of an ecological study which was carried out here between 2005 and 2007. The study was carried out to establish what wildlife existed and how the park should be developed in a way that would preserve the parks special characteristics, while allowing public access.
The opening of Waterstown Park is also an important milestone in furthering the development of an overall Liffey Valley Park. Members of the public are invited to visit the park for themselves and enjoy this hidden gem in the heart of Palmerston.