SATURDAY 24 AUGUST 2024
Ginnety’s Pond Nature Park in Dromiskin was developed as a result of a unique partnership that saw a disused, neglected and forgotten wetland transformed into a community amenity thanks to the generosity of a local landowner who licensed the site to the Tidy Towns Committee for community use. The Parish Priest and, ultimately the Diocese, also supported the project by providing a licence that permitted a new entrance to be created from the Church Car Park. This allowed the Tidy Towns Committee to successfully apply for funding under the Outdoor Recreation Infrastructure Scheme which was recommended by Louth County Council for approval and allowed civil works to be undertaken to install pathways, create the fully accessible entrance and construct a Pond Dipping Platform. While completion of the vision for the Nature Park is a work in progress additional works undertaken to date include the planting of 32 native trees, stocking the pond with Mallard Ducks thanks to the support of Darver/Dromiskin Gun Club and installation of Biodiversity information panels thanks to a grant under Louth County Council’s Action for Biodiversity Scheme.Pat Mulligan, Chairman of Dromiskin Tidy Towns commented: “we’re at a place we never thought we’d be having delivered two public parks in our small community thanks to a collaborative approach with local landowners, funding agencies and local residents who have generously supported our fundraising efforts. It is of great pride to the members of our committee to see these public spaces being enjoyed by members of our community on a daily basis and makes the hard work of our volunteers worthwhile”.The first of the public spaces referred to by Pat is Dromiskin Heritage Park, one of only nineteen Community Green Flag Parks in Ireland and which was also developed using the partnership approach on land licensed by the Parish and developed on a phased basis using a cocktail of funding from various grant schemes. Both parks were designed and project managed by Landscape Architect and local resident Kevin Halpenny who volunteers his time and his specialist skills with Dromiskin Tidy Towns.The community celebrated National Heritage Week 2023, very fittingly, with a Community Conversations event in the Heritage Park sharing stories on the built heritage and Famous Sons and Daughters of the Parish so it is most appropriate that a celebration of the natural heritage took place in the Nature Park this year which incorporated the Official Opening of the Park.There was a great turnout for the event and luckily the weather was kind so that attendees could enjoy the public amenity at its best. Councillor Kevin Callan, Chairman of Louth County Council was fulsome in his praise for the collaborative approach that delivered the project highlighting that, as Chairman of Drogheda Tidy Towns, he was only too aware of the effort required to bring projects to fruition and reiterated his commitment, and that of his fellow councillors, to continue to support the efforts of Tidy Towns groups in the county.Pat Mulligan concentrated on thanking the many, many people whose combined efforts helped to turn a dream into reality highlighting that the generous donation of land by the Hand family was the catalyst for the Tidy Towns group developing a plan to transform the site and apply to funding agencies for financial assistance to deliver on their objectives. The support of Louth County Council in recommending the grant application for approval was acknowledged with appreciation.Kevin Halpenny, who designed the the Nature Park and project managed the various stages of its development told those in attendance that he believed delivery of this project was a Best in Class example of what can be achieved when a group of individuals and organisations combine their efforts to deliver a shared vision. Kevin also expressed the view that he felt that the Park would be capable of achieving Community Green Flag status in the not too distant future which would make Dromiskin the only centre in the country to have been awarded this global standard for the presentation and maintenance of two public parks solely by volunteers.Guest of honour Eanna Ni Lamhna cut the ribbon to officially open the Nature Park and educated and entertained, in her own inimitable way, as she brought the crowd around the park pointing out its biodiversity and ecology. With the theme for National Heritage Week being Connections, Routes and Networks it was appropriate that the event concluded with a cuppa and cakes in the nearby St Peter’s National School where people were able to renew old connections, make new ones and network sharing memories of Ginnety’s Pond and the wider community area.
