Green flags for Northside parks

A NUMBER of Northside parks and green spaces have received Green Flag awards for 2019.

A total of 60 Irish parks and gardens were presented with the awards, which recognise and encourage good quality parks and green spaces that are managed in environmentally sustainable ways.

Poppintree Park and Blessington Street Park were amongst five Dublin City Council parks to receive awards while Millennium Park and Santry Demesne, which are managed by Fingal County Council, were also awarded Green Flags.

Mayor of Fingal Cllr Eoghan O’Brien said he was immensely proud that five parks across Fingal were awarded the prestigious Green Flag.

“It is a testament to the hard work and dedication of the council staff who ensure that the parks continue to be wonderful amenities for everyone who live and visit the County,” he added.

“The very fact that the parks are located right across Fingal shows the scale of the task involved in maintaining the demesnes and it is great to see them receive this deserved recognition.”

Grangegorman Military Cemetery and Phoenix Park were amongst nine Office of Public Works (OPW) sites also awarded a Green Flag for 2019.

The Phoenix Park at 707 hectares is one of the largest enclosed recreational spaces within any European capital city. The Park was established in 1662 as a Royal Deer Park by James Butler, Duke of Ormond, on behalf of King Charles II and is 11km in length and has 22kms of roads.

In addition to the Green Flag award, Ashtown Walled Garden in Phoenix Park won the overall ‘Walled Garden Category’ in the 2019 Green Flag for Parks Pollinator Project Award.

Ireland’s largest Military Cemetery, Grangegorman Military Cemetery, was opened in 1876 to serve as a graveyard for the soldiers and their families, of what was then Marlborough Barracks (now McKee Barracks).

It’s an oasis of peace and tranquillity, a near picture perfect Victorian garden cemetery. The mature tree collection of over 26 species in this small site adds to its solemn and reflective atmosphere.

The graveyard contains 600 military burials, including a memorial to the Unknown Soldier and 140 service men that lost their lives with the sinking of the RMS Leinster mail boat off the coast of Dublin.

Minister of State for the OPW, Kevin ‘Boxer’ Moran, said he was delighted to see that the OPW had been awarded the flags. 

“I particularly would like to congratulate all the OPW staff whose dedicated work and commitment to each property has contributed towards these Awards,” he added.

“The OPW places great importance on the sustainable management and conservation of the State’s heritage sites, and the Green Flag awards scheme is a wonderful way of recognising and celebrating these high standards.”