A picture of love that captures garden delight

DANIEL Tighe and his mum Sinead, from Tallaght, are pictured in a photograph entitled ‘A special love blooming in the Sensory Garden’ that a taken by Samantha Nicholl, an entrant in the Dublin Green Communities Photography Awards.

The picture was taken in the Sensory Garden in Sean Walsh Park in Tallaght in August and features Daniel, a winner in this year’s Southside People Community and Sports Awards, and his mum Sinead.

The garden, which had won an award in 2010 had become unkempt and overgrown during the recession until local community group, the Tallaght Litter Mugs, got involved and restored it to its former high standard.

The Dublin Green Communities Photography Awards is a new environmental competition that is organised by An Taisce and supported by Diageo, Transdev, the Luas operator, and Dublin City Council.

The awards celebrate the beauty and diverse character of Ireland’s community gardens that have brought a breath of fresh air to many city streets, and estates, as well as delivering community amenities in rural villages and towns across the country.

These garden projects have contributed a great deal to the quality of life over the last decade, sometimes in unexpected ways, the organisers of the competiton say.

To celebrate the hard-won successes from scores of different community gardens, allotments, community orchards, and volunteer landscaping projects, this new Green Communities photo competition has gathered together the best images of community green space projects from across the whole country in one exhibition.

The photography competition was open to everyone.