Welcome to our first newsletter!
Raheny Tidy Village Group meets every Saturday morning at 10.30am at the Scouts Den throughout the year and every Wednesday evening at 7pm during the summer months. We would love it if you joined us some time – all help is very welcome and no commitment is necessary
What we do
Clean litter
Organise floral displays providing winter and summer colour
Restore and install features in our village such as the restoration of the historic pump at the bottom of Main Street.
Encourage biodiversity (see next pages for details on work on the river)
Development of the Heritage Trail, a signed walk in Raheny Village in partnership with the Raheny Heritage Society, and the Raheny Way (see next pages for more detail on the Raheny Way)
Environmental planting in green spaces in the village (pollinator friendly planting and we no longer use weed killer)
Installation of bee hotels in green spaces in the village and allowing dandelions to grow in open spaces as food for bees especially in spring
Reinstated, repainted and replanted the Boat at the Garda Station which was in a state of disrepair
Tidy Town Awards
Raheny maintained its bronze medal for 2019 in the Tidy Towns national competition with a score of 324 marks. This was a significant increase on last year’s score of 314 with gains in all judging categories. The group received runners up prize for ‘The Raheny Way’ walks in the Tidy Town Special Award for Sustainable Development. The criteria were to either create a new community walkway or build on an existing one in your community.
Raheny Way
The Raheny Way is a project developed by The Raheny Tidy Village Group aimed at developing walking routes within the Raheny area. Routes identified take the walker past many historical and environmental attractions in the area. The walks consist of three routes known as:
The Coast Walk - 4.4 km, duration 1 hr, level easy
The Beach Walk - 7.6 km. duration 1.5 hrs, level easy
The Raheny Way - 12 km duration, duration 2.2 hrs, level moderate
There is a map of all walks outside the DART station and a leaflet is available in the library. It is also on Dublin City Council web site
As well as the runner-up prize in the Special Award for Sustainable Development in the National Tidy Towns 2019 competition, Raheny Way has received the following awards:
Winner in Dublin North Central Neighbourhood Awards 2018 (Business Environment and sustainability Initiative
Winner in Dublin City Neighbourhood awards 2018 (Business Environment and sustainability Initiative)
Thank you
Raheny Tidy Village Group are really grateful to our local businesses who provide provide vital funding for our projects.
Intergenerational working
Intergenerational practice aims to bring people together in mutually beneficial activities which promote greater understanding and respect between generations. Over the last few years the Raheny Tidy Village Group have had a number of students from the local secondary schools coming to volunteer with them while they are working on the national Presidents Gaisge award. This year we decided to do an intergenerational project with the younger people in the group one of whom is working on his Gaisge award.
We hope to develop a self directed short walk that is wheelchair friendly. The length of the walk is 1mile long and more details will follow in our next newsletter!
Leaf fall and our compost bins
Check out the two compost bins at the Scouts Den which compost leaves from the many trees in Raheny. Our goal is to use all our own compost in Raheny but collecting and composting the leaves and then using the leaf mould as compost is a case of ‘all hands on deck’. The more volunteers we have to help with the logistics, the more leaf mould we can compost and reuse.
The Santry River Project
One of our long term goals is to make a river walk through the village. A lot of work has been done on the river this year.
The river and surrounding area is cleaned regularly. The vegetation beside the river has been tidied but still has a wild, natural look. We are always striving to encourage biodiversity and the natural vegetation along the river bank is flourishing.
The flower bed beside the Scouts Den has been planted with native species to encourage pollinators and a bug hotel has been installed to provide a habitat for insect life. A big thank you to our great scouts who are looking after the bug hotel and the area around the Scouts Den.
Picnic tables will be placed along the river near Supervalu courtesy of Dublin City Council and an art project to paint murals beside the river is planned for next year.
We are keen to investigate and monitor the flora and fauna supported by the river habitat. Early in the new year we will be working with Dublin City Council officers to record and monitor the wildlife associated with the river.
We have already started looking at the nutrient status of the river with students from Manor House. The girls participated in the Water Blitz organised by Dublin City University. They took samples from the river and tested them for nitrates and phosphates. Unfortunately, they discovered that the river is quite high in nitrates which indicates that there is some level of pollution in the water. We hope to continue monitoring the water over the next year and come up with a plan to improve the river water quality.
Did you notice a lack of election posters in Raheny Village?
We ran a successful campaign, in partnership with local representatives, to achieve a Poster Free Zone in the centre of Raheny during the European and Local elections.
Other groups in the area
Check out Clean the Green on Facebook, who regularly do tidy-ups of St Anne’s Park, or the Bull Island Action group, who organise monthly clean-ups of the beach»
Action Corner... for a tidy and green Raheny
Reduce the use of single use plastics. Plastic leftovers such as used plastic water bottles, disposable plastic plates, and plastic bags frequently end up in the sea and rivers, contaminating natural habitats and destroying aquatic life. Much of the plastic we send for recycling isn’t actually recycled. Consider also asking your local supermarket to reduce the use of plastic packaging in fruit and vegetables aisle.
Protect our river by:
Reducing the amount of pesticides, herbicides, and chemical fertilisers you use. Raheny Tidy Villages Group has stopped using them altogether. If you use these poisonous sprays on your driveway, lawn or in your flowerbeds, traces of them will drain into rivers and ditches when it rains.
Keeping out oils, fat, or grease from the sink. Instead, keep a jar that collects all the fats, grease or oil then discard in solid waste. Anything discarded down the sink can end up in the rivers and the sea
Have you a dog? Then you no doubt know all about the joys of picking up after them! You can make this a little easier on yourself by availing of free dog litter bags. These free bags are made from a biodegradable material and are available from the reception desk of the Dublin City Council Offices located on the first floor of Northside Civic Centre on Bunratty Road, Coolock, Dublin 17. Just remember to pop them in a bin after use!
Have you spotted a Dublin City Council (DCC) bin that needs emptying or is damaged?
Wishing something could be done about it? Well there is!. All DCC bins have a QR code (a type of barcode containing dots) attached to them. You can scan this code using your smartphone reporting the issue and the bin will be emptied by the next day. (see picture)
Stay in Contact
If you would like to join our mailing list for newsletters, please email us via the contact form, email rahenytidyvillage@gmail.com , check us out on Facebook ‘Raheny Tidy Village Group’ or join us next Saturday at the Scouts Den!
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