Life Springs Eternal in the Darkest Days of Winter

Nature never sleeps. Today (Christmas Day) I witnessed the life of the next generation of Nature lying silently but proudly amongst the bare branches of the trees in an almost leafless forest.

Thousands of male flowers belonging to the alder, silver birch and hazel trees could be clearly seen hanging like chandeliers of light in a dark woodland. Over the next few weeks the catkins will quietly build up size and colour until at the beginning of the Celtic spring, they will burst into clouds of dust flowers to be carried off by the wind to meet and fertlise the female flowers of their species.

The science of Nature is so magical and never ceases to amaze and delight the human spirit.

The Kids Know What is Best for Our City! Let's Listen & Learn from them!

 

The benefits of a partnership and inclusive approach towards developing a future Galway city that is sustainable and integrates nature into its infrastructure was shown yesterday when children from 13 city primary schools took part in Glór na Óganach ('The Voice of Youth') organised by the Galway National Park City (GNPC) initiative supported by the Galway Education Centre. It was an online event chaired wonderfully by Fionnghuala Geraghty, a teacher of Scoil Chaitríona Senior, where pre-teen students gave their opinions by way of talks, pre-event surveys and classroom discussions about what they want in a post-COVID Galway. This event was unprecedented and amply shows the important need and role of a multi-sectoral movement such as the Galway National Park City initiative.

We often talk about what children want but very seldom give them the opportunity to voice their own opinions on how they wish society to develop.

But their answers and comments yesterday were breathtakingly fresh, honest and full of common-sense. They displayed an awareness of the benefits of looking after nature in the city and having increased areas for biodiversity, in planting more trees and having more wildlife; in the need for information noticeboards in areas of nature; in the need to lessen screen time and to play outdoors in clean, safe green spaces and in playgrounds with flowers, more hands-on play equipment and having both walls and trees that they could climb; in the attractions of having lots of classes outside; in having safe walking and cycling routes to school and in/around the school, in banning once-off plastics and in increasing the possibilities of enjoying the local waterways.

Interestingly the overwhelming majority of these boys and girls felt that it was the woods, the seashore and the wildlife that they most liked about Galway city.

They were also fully aware of the dangers of biodiversity loss and of climate change.

So it was heartening to know that our youngest generation have strong feelings of what is most beautiful about our city, are expressing deep concerns about what is wrong with it and know what needs to be done to make it better for both people and wildlife.

So the challenge is for the adults to listen and to learn from the children in order to ensure that we hand them over a ‘liveable’ planet.

We will publish a summary of proceedings over the next few weeks.

Glór na Óganach was the first gathering of pre-teens on the subject of a future city. But not the last. There will be a follow-up in November as part of the Galway Science and Technology Festival and a third will take place in Spring/Summer 2022. A similar thematic gathering of teenagers from second level schools will hopefully be hosted in the festival also. Yesterday’s was the first such event and we will all learn from the experience, improving on it and looking at the possibility of hosting a children’s forum tríd Gaelige and a forum for infants, 1st and 2nd classes.

Finally I extend a big 'Bualadh Bos' (round of applause) to Fionnghuala Geraghty for her awesome work in preparing the teacher/student surveys and in chairing the event, to the Galway Education Centre for its support and of course to the teachers from the 13 schools who made it all possible in the final week of the school year when they are exceptionally busy. We really enjoyed working with ye all. Go raibh míle maith agaibh!

Easter 2021- Supporting the Climate Action 'Plantathon' of 2019

 

On the last day of March 2021 three lads, representing Galway City Council and the volunteers of Galway (top photos), planted 360 trees on the same site along the Dyke Road in Terryland Forest Park where hundreds of Galwegians of all ages happily came together early on a Sunday morning in November 2019 to plant 2000 trees (bottom photo) as part of that year's highly successful Climate Action-themed Galway Science and Technology Festival.

Due to COVID restrictions we could not advertise or promote the event in any way and had to sadly limit the attendance to three people. It was very much 'under the radar'.

Kevin Nally and Mark Ryan of Galway City Parks and myself replaced any of the 2019 trees that were severely damaged or had died whilst also expanding the area of planting.

It gives me great joy though to report that most of the trees, planted by the public that fine crisp winter morning of three years ago, are doing really well!

Behind these trees lie thousands of others resulting from the peoples' 'Plantathons' of 2012 and 2010 on the Dyke Road sector of Terryland Forest Park. As you can see from the photos, these trees stand tall and proud and are doing a great job in supporting wildlife, in filtering out toxic fumes and greenhouse gases from the atmosphere whilst providing us all with oxygen!

I have to use this opportunity to extend my respect and gratitude to Kevin and Mark who are part of a new generation of parks staff in City Hall that under the great tutelage of Stephen Walsh are devoted to helping protect and enhance the public parks for the benefit of the people and biodiversity of Galway city and beyond. Maith daoibh!

Now with the planned construction of a bridge onto of the old railway stacks that will become the start of the Connemara Greenway and hopefully a boreen network leading onto Coolough, Menlo Castlegar and Carrowbrowne, this area has the potential to become a blue-way (River Corrib) and a green-way (Terryland Forest Park) of huge significance that would be the envy of any other city in Europe.

So I am asking all Galway City councillors to help make this happen by transforming the Dyke Road into a walking/cycling corridor and the old Waterworks into a River/Forestry Interpretative Centre complete with café, gallery, crafts/rural skills learning centre and natural heritage museum.

Climate Change Action: Don't Let This Be a One Day Wonder.

In spite of the winds and downpours, there was a very good turnout at today's Climate Action protest in Galway. It was lovely to see families, teenagers, students, grandparents, community activists, artists, eco-campaigners, teachers, feminists and progressive politicos in today's march through the city centre and subsequent rally in historic Spanish Arch.
The organisers - Transition Galway - did a great job and there were some great speeches.
Wonderful to see veteran campaigners such as Caoimhin Ó Maolallaigh, Kieran Cunnane, Liz Hackett, Seamus Diskin, Betty & Jim Gosling, Johnny Duhan, Coralie Mureau, John Cunningham, Iona & Daibhi O'Croinin are still fighting the good fight for justice.
I was honoured to be asked by Caoimhín Ó Maolallaigh to be one of the speakers at the event.

My message was that...

The planet is being increasingly exploited, desecrated and raped to satisfy the desires and greed of global/national elites who have managed to make so many of us become addicted to fossil fuels and consumerism. Thanks to man-made climate change and its associated deforestation, habitat loss, road construction, urban sprawl and commercial farming, we are witnessing a Mass Extinction not seen for millions of years.
We are been lulled into digging the graves of wildlife and for generations of humans not yet born.
Due to the power of fossil fuels corporations and the 'need' to continue to promote national consumerism, governments are failing to show leadership.
Sometimes we can feel powerless in the face of global scale of climate change. Melting glaciers, rising sea levels, acidic oceans, disappearing islands in the Pacific, threatened extinction of rhinos, tigers and elephants, climate conflicts in Asia/Africa, and deforestation in South America and Central Africa may make us feel that we are trying to hold back a tsunami with a pitchfork. Hence we can be dismissed by cynics as just grains of sand on a beach who tell us that personal greed (me-feinism) combined with the influence/wealth of the fossil fuels corporation and their poltical lackeys are too powerful to overcome.
But the answer is YES we are grains of sand on a beach. But without the grains of sand there is no beach. We need to follow the green dictum of "Think Global, Act Local" and that progressive change in society for eons has come from grassroots people power. And Galway is where we start and it is where local communities have won victories for the common good and the environment against the forces of conservatism over the last decade. Shining examples are the "No to Incineration, Yes to Recyling"; the halting of a four lane highway through Terryland Forest Park; Merlin Woods...

But concerned Galwegians like all those on the march today must stay together and stay active and make the case for Climate Change reversal a cause for everyone. Technology can help us. But the key priority is to reconnect with Nature and rediscover its sense of wonder and importance. In the case of the Terryland Forest Park, we are working with scientists, technologists, teachers and local residents to make this potentially great natural resource into a major Outdoor Classroom and Outdoor Laboratory, a Nature Play and Leisure facility for local schools, collages and the general public.
The almost 100,000 native Irish trees that people planted in this community-council-made forest since 2000 have had enormous benefits to the health of the planet. Science has shown that these 100,000 trees have absorbed 3,800 metric tons of carbon dioxide; offset the climate impact of 800 cars for one year; supply oxgyen for 400,000 people for one day; provide 4.64 billion euros worth of air pollution controls for 50 years and have enriched biodiversity by providing home to so many species of flora and fauna.
So by working together, we the ordinary people of Galway can make a positive difference globally. Yes we can!