15 Feb 2010
Co. Dublin, Ireland —In a colourful revolution, community gardens are popping up in neighbourhoods around Dublin. A timely new publication The Dublin City Guide to Community Gardening maps the growth of these gardens and provides useful information for people who may want to create one of their own. The Guide has been produced by the Environmental Focus Group of the Dublin City Community Forum.

Allotments have been around since 1910, but Dublin’s first community gardens only began to grow in the past decade. The free Guide includes 43 existing and planned gardens on its map – from independent gardens to educational gardens to gardens backed by Dublin City Council.
While these gardens grow a diversity of crops from fruit to seasonal vegetables to flowers that are simply good to look at, they also seed community spirit. Bill Fine, of South Circular Road Community Garden, says: “with our community garden the whole area is cleaner and there is less opportunity for vandalism and littering.”

The Guide includes information on the practicalities of setting up a garden, from finding a site to getting public liability insurance. There is a list of resources as well as contact details for community gardening groups already in existence, and often the best way to start a new garden is to visit one that’s already up and running.
Robert Moss, the Chair of the Environmental Focus Group, says the Regional Planning Guidelines Greater Dublin Area 2004-2016 have called for greater density of development, which will lead to many more people living without private gardens. Community gardens provide space for people to relax, meet their neighbours, and, of course, to garden.

The new guide can be viewed at www.dublincommunityforum.ie/publications

For more information, contact ROBERT MOSS, Chair of the Environmental Focus Group and Phibsborough Community Gardener, at:
Tel: 086 357 9663
E-mail: robertmosscareer@yahoo.co.uk

LAUNCH DETAILS:
Title: The Dublin City Guide to Community Gardening
Launch: 6pm-8pm, Tuesday, 23rd of February 2010.
Where: The Wood Quay Venue, Civic Offices, Wood Quay, Dublin 8
Speakers: Cllr Kevin Humphreys, Deputy Lord Mayor of Dublin; Robert Moss, Chair of the Environmental Focus Group and Phibsborough Community Garden; Kaethe Burt-O’Dea, Sitric Road Community Compost Garden; Seoidin O’Sullivan, South Circular Road Community Garden; Trevor Sargent,TD Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food.

For further information on the launch, please contact:
Dublin City Community Forum
Department of Community & Enterprise
Block 4, Floor 1
Civic Offices
Wood Quay
Dublin 8
Tel: 01 222 3259
Email: community.forum@dublincity.ie


Robert Moss