Painting the town green for summer

WORk aimed at sprucing up diamond park and James Joyce Street park, both located in the north inner city, should be completed this summer as part of a broader council initiative to ‘green’ the neighbourhood. dublin city council also plans to provide green walls on commons Street and courtney place by the summer.

The council’s parks department also intends to plant trees across the north-east inner-city and Stoneybatter, while staff are also working on detailed designs for greening custom House Quay, which should proceed this year.

The March report to councillors on the central Area committee also said there are plans to roll out an urban tree trail in the north-inner city.

councillors welcomed the plans which fall under the Stoneybatter Green Strategy and the North east Inner city Greening Strategy and called for the greening initiatives to be extended to include east Wall and for trees to be planted on dominick Street. Independent councillor cieran perry said he fully backed the work. He’d like to see it in his area of cabra and Glasnevin too, he said.

Green party councillor Janet Horner said that the north inner-city is the least green area in Ireland. “people are suffering hugely because they live in an area that is so lacking in greenery.”

Labour councillor Joe costello said that he has written to the Taoiseach’s Office to ask them to incorporate east Wall into the regeneration efforts aimed at the north-east inner-city, following a motion passed at the area committee. Many of east Wall’s streets are narrow, he said, which makes it tricky to find good spots to plant trees.

But the council fully intends to work on greening that area this year, said Mr Toolan. He is also looking at the possibility of planting temporary pocket forests on vacant sites in the north-east inner-city,