Empowerment

One page amidst a 906 page planning document augurs well for Ireland’s community gardeners and those aspiring to have one in their area, because it for the first time obliges local authorities to support such initiatives. Since last year, Ireland has a renewed Planning and Development Act which officially defines community gardening for the first time.

The Community Law and Mediation organisation, which was started in Coolock, Dublin, is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year. The organisation was established by the...

I had the pleasure of meeting and interviewing three smashing natives of Moyross and Southill recently who love to be in the saddle and are already working in the horse industry. Wesley Joyce is a champion jockey, Terry Casey while new to racing has already notched up one win, and Aoife O'Driscoll while much younger is already doing some paid work in a local equestrian club.

The Balbriggan Great Places and Spaces Map was the winner of the best mental health initiative at the Local Authorities Members Association (LAMA) awards. The initiative was driven by Thrive Balbriggan which describes itself as a community-led project “to create a happy and healthy place to live by conducting projects and events aiming at improving mental health and wellbeing”. It has been up and running since 2021.

There are very serious impacts from not having access to high quality free drinking water and more needs to be done in this area, according to Dr Grace O'Malley, senior author of the ‘Uisce Cliste: Healthy Hydration for Dublin’ report* launched in April. "It's known worldwide that access to drinking water is a social determinant of health. If (people) don't have access to free, high quality drinking water, it can affect the kidneys, heart health, learning and mood. Also, we substitute water with other drinks that aren't as healthy, especially as they are advertised all the time and pushed on children," she said.

A study into how increasing safe public drinking water and tailored education can improve the health of people living in disadvantaged areas, was launched in April. The ‘Uisce Cliste: Healthy Hydration for Dublin’ report tells how better access to free high quality drinking water in public spaces changes habits and awareness about the importance of drinking water. A secondary aim was to explore how well an Uisce Cliste project with Cherry Orchard FC, in Ballyfermot, where the report was launched, helped to reduce plastic and aluminium waste. The club now has smart water fountains and players now use club-branded reusable bottles.

Thousands of young people have gone through the Just 1 Life Road Safety Programme since 2006, and it was named the Best Community Transport initiative at the recent Local Authority Members Association awards. It's an initiative to promote road safety among 16 year olds, run by Wexford County Council and Wexford Rotary Club, and it has since spread to 16 other counties across Ireland. Michael Brand of Wexford Rotary Club said the inspiration came from Down Under.

Tiglin is a non-profit organisation with a Christian ethos that supports people to recover from addiction. It recently introduced a module on community development to its aftercare recovery programme and Eimear* from Bray, Co. Wicklow, has been through the programme. She spoke to Changing Ireland (using a pseudonym).