Dublin City Council
Dublin City Council South East Area coordinate a lot of environmental works each year to ensure the city’s villages are blooming and clean. The Public Domain Section, Waste Management Division and Community Development Section work closely with many communities on this work.
A Vibrant Villages plan is core to this and much assistance is given to the villages to develop cohesive, strong communities that are socially inclusive and safe for all ages to live in. Encouraging the villages to enter Tidy Towns, Pride of Place and City Neighbourhood competitions is an important aspect each year.
The Dublin 4 area is well represented with two major villages entering Tidy Towns in 2016. Sandymount and Donnybrook are well established villages that have many people living, working, commuting through and using for recreational purposes.
The village community groups organise many annual calendar celebrations from Easter to Christmas, from nature walks to biodiversity days. In this issue we have a profile on both.
The Sandymount Tidy Towns Community Association (STTCA) is the new name for the local village community group with members working together and linking with Sandymount and Merrion Residents Association and other local groups on all community aspects of Sandymount.
STTCA is an apolitical group whose main aim is to maintain and enhance the local environment and amenities in the area, to build a safe, cohesive and socially inclusive vibrant village and to create a happy and enjoyable space to live and work in through an annual programme of events, actions and plans. This is for the entire community; residents and their families, businesses, schools, retailers and local organisations in Sandymount.
STTCA are working closely with the Business community in Sandymount and hope to develop stronger links and networks for the village. A major part of the work is ensuring the environmental aspect of the village is kept to a high standard. Clean, litter free, green and flowered villages attract both residents and visitors to the area, increasing footfall, spending and investment in the village.
Pictured Above: STTCA Flower sale on the Green May 2016
The Village Green is a huge asset and STTCA are working weekly to ensure the green is clean, litter-free and flowered. We were delighted to see the bust of our beloved and greatly missed resident poet, Seamus Heaney, unveiled in June 2016.
We have undertaken new flowering with shops and businesses in the village linking with AIB, Sandymount House, O’Reilly’s and Tesco and we would love to see as many shops work and link into this system in the coming years to really make the village blossom. We are also linking with Sandymount Beach Cleanup to keep our strand clean.
Pictured Above: STTCA Secret Gardens Group visiting one of the beautiful gardens in Sandymount in July 2016.
Social Media page – Like our Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram pages @ Sandymount tidy Towns Community Association and we will in return share your page and build a network of mutual promotion.
Contact us at SandymountTT@gmail.com at 089-4027127 or on our Facebook messenger if you have any queries, wish to promote any business or wish to link in.
We have a number of events coming up that we hope to have your support at:
Our STTCA Dog Show and SAMRA Family Fun Day will take place on Sunday August 21st from 11am.
Sandymount Business Network meeting – September 2016
We will also be planning our Autumn and Winter programme with Our Harvest Festival, Halloween and Christmas Festivals.
Donnybrook TidyTowns has been entering the Tidy Towns competition since 2007 but began to really develop the village well from 2013. They see the competition as not being just about hanging baskets, floral displays or clean streets but promoting the community and showcasing the village and what it has to offer.
Donnybrook businesses are high up there among best known brands to be found anywhere in Ireland, and the area has a wealth of history, heritage and an abundance of fine Edwardian and Victorian architecture, along with a modern and forward looking community mixed with a futuristic vibe. This backdrop along with our inherited tree-lined streets offer Donnybrook TidyTowns a unique canvas to work from.
Pictured: Flowers on Donnybrook Plaza planted by DTT
DTT started their 2016 campaign with the ‘Adopt an Island or plant box’ initiative which has mushroomed, and local heroes such as Vincent O’Brien, Patrick King, Donny Collins and Anne Delaney have all jumped on board allowing us to expand the scheme further. They have held two community clean-up days along with the DCC Team. Dublin Easter citywide clean-up and school children became involved too with a painting competition on the theme “Keeping Donnybrook Tidy,” and all the winning pieces are now prominently displayed on the bins that they’ve helped promote in the village.
Working in partnership with Dublin City Council, they have managed to deliver on key objectives of having the village cleared of graffiti, regular clean-ups followed by waste collection, fresh seasonal plants along streets and encouraging the community to do same with a plant sale.
Pictured: Plant boxes in Donnybrook Village
Success has already visited us in 2016 with two of our volunteers recently receiving a Sean Moore award for their community work – Ben Fox and Martin Leonard.
A lot of the ground work has been done and we now feel ready to sell the village and what it has to offer to the world. To this end we’ve just recently launched our new website, we’ve a new marketing expert volunteer on board and the business community is starting to take notice and help us with plans. The door is wide open for new volunteers, advisors etc. and more information can be found on our website: www.DonnybrookTidyTowns.ie.
