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Dundalk Leader 2nd September 2026
Dundalk Leader Local Democracy Reports By LAUREN ROSS l lauren@dundalkleader.com
“A purpose and a place to go” New five-year Muirhevnamor gardens come back to life SUNFLOWERS were still standing above the allotments at Hoey’s Lane on a grey August day, on land that had been locked up and almost forgotten only a few years ago. Muirhevnamor Community Garden, which is on land owned by Louth County Council, now has individual plots, shared polytunnels, picnic benches and an orchard with more than 40 trees. Some parts of the site are well established and others are still rough and waiting to be worked on, but a dedicated committee have big plans to make the site into a haven for the whole community. The gardens had been there in one form or another since the 1990s, but interest eventually fell away with the site no longer promoted and the gates locked. “It dwindled away,” Cllr Kevin Meenan (SF) said. “People weren’t taking allotments and they weren’t advertising it. It became nearly invisible at one point.” Fires on the land during the time of Covi led to another effort to get the gardens back up and running and a new committee was put together around three years ago. Bill Johnston originally came looking for an allotment and soon found himself involved in the project. Ask the others what his role is and the first answer is “Everything.” He is a committee member and director but in practice, he is on the site most days, arranging materials, planning jobs and dealing with whatever needs to be done next. He is joined on the committee by Sorcha Laurence Naylor, Tony Jordan, Cllr Meenan, Cllr Sionnan McCann, Pam Hosford, Susanne Breen, Sorcha Casey and Christina McKee. Dundalk Men’s Shed, previously based in Seatown, is also part of the wider site, with the two groups working alongside each other and sharing equipment. A standard allotment measures around five metres by ten metres and costs €50 a year, with a €25 administration fee in the first year. The committee tries to keep a mix between people from Muirhevnamor, people from the wider Dundalk area and community groups. “We’ve never had to advertise,” Cllr Meenan said. “It’s always been word of mouth. Somebody comes and says their friend would like to come in.” Christina McKee joined the committee because of her interest in nutrition and growing food organically, but gardening was still new to her. She started out with four small beds and, for a long time, she didn’t know what to do
Cllr Kevin Meenan, Bill Johnston and Ruairí Ó Murchú TD. with them, but another allotment holder showed her how to prepare the beds and what to plant. Within a few months, she was taking home potatoes, onions, green beans, lettuce and courgettes. “I haven’t had to buy any vegetables in a month and a half, and it’s brilliant,” she said. The allotment holders also have a WhatsApp group where they swap advice about soil, planting and even caterpillars. When somebody is going away, another person will usually offer to water their plot. “There’s great camaraderie,” Christina said. “I come up here and I have brilliant craic with everybody.” The garden has also given her somewhere to go during the day and people to meet. “My friend will text me and say, ‘I’ll be at the allotment for 10 o’clock,’” she said. “It’s like there’s a purpose and a place to go.” There is plenty of company, but the site is peaceful too, with trees around the boundary sheltering it from much of the noise outside, even though it is in one of Dundalk’s most built-up areas. “You can come, you can escape from wherever and just come in here and clear the head,” Cllr Meenan said. The committee could fit more than 90 allotments on the land but it does not want to squeeze a plot into every available space. “We could have got 90 sites in here, but then you’re cramming it,” Cllr Meenan said. “We need to give space to see what else comes along. There could be something really important come along next year or two years that we’d like to incorporate.” He said the group might stop around 75 or 80 plots, leaving the rest of the ground for wider community use. Plans include an accessible path from the car park for wheelchair users and people with prams, along with benches, picnic tables, a well, a remembrance garden, a children’s corner and an outdoor yoga and Pi-
lates area, while a separate womenonly space is also being considered. The committee has also secured funding from a climate action fund for two toilets and the restoration and enlargement of the old pond, and a local enhancement grant which helped them buy equipment over the last few years, while Cllr Meenan is in “regular contact with council officials” about grant applications. The project has also attracted strong backing from Louth County Council. “The Chief Executive’s been up here. He loved it,” Cllr Meenan said, adding that the gardens fitted with the council’s wider plans for community green space and biodiversity. The group is strongly focusing on biodiversity throughout the site with native trees and wildflowers planned, along with bat boxes and bird boxes, and the pond will provide another space for a variety of wildlife. The committee also wants to record the species already using the gardens and is involved in the Hare’s Corner initiative. TD for Sinn Fein’s Ruairí Ó Murchú said anyone who had visited over time could see the pace of the change. “This is a brilliant community facility. Anybody who has been down here over the period has seen a constant improvement,” he said. “A huge amount of the allotments have come on and you’re seeing a constant flow from the community, schools, community organisations and individuals.” He explained that the project was particularly positive given earlier problems involving fires and antisocial behaviour. “It’s absolutely brilliant that this is in the middle of one of the most built-up areas in Dundalk,” he said. “It’s where the community meets the environment. It’s just positive and healthy.” The committee originally thought the wider work might be completed within a year or two but that has now been revised to between three and five years.
“We realised, hold on a second, we need to maybe give this three to five years to do it justice,” Cllr Meenan said. He has been involved in community projects in Muirhevnamor for decades, including the boxing club and community centre, but said the gardens stood apart. “This is the best project I’ve been involved in, by many miles,” he said. Much of its success, he added, came down to the people involved and the support the committee had received from various generous businesses and sponsors, including local donor Stephen McDowell. There will also be a remembrance garden included in honour of Stephen’s mother Philly as part of the plans. “We are really indebted to Stephen for his help who has been hands on and he visits the site regularly. “We’ve got really, really lucky with our committee, our support, our help, the location that we inherited, everything,” Cllr Meenan said. “Sometimes I have to pinch myself and say something’s going to go wrong here somewhere.” “I did not envisage having the success, not a chance,” he said. “That’s not down to me. That’s down to the committee, down to the luck we got and everything else.” At the moment, the committee is welcoming schools to visit but it is not yet open to as the fully fledged community space in the committee’s vision. There is much more to be done over the years ahead but the long-term plan is to keep the allotments as working growing spaces while making the rest of the grounds somewhere people can walk, sit, bring children or take some time out. Christina has even visions for a dance floor and harvest festivals in the future. “It’ll keep evolving as the years go on,” she says, while Cllr Meenan added, “This will be something for the community, to just come in here and chill out.”
plan launched for Louth libraries
A NEW five-year plan for Louth’s library service has been launched after almost 1,000 people had their say on its future. The Louth County Council Library Service Development Programme 2026– 2030: Building for the Future was launched in Ardee Library on Thursday, 27th August. The strategic plan will guide the future development of library services in the county over the next five years, including more work around digital innovation, lifelong learning, inclusion, community engagement and the continued development of welcoming library spaces for everyone. The plan was drawn up following a comprehensive consultation with members of the public, community groups, educators, councillors, library staff and other organisations and reflects the priorities and aspirations of the people of County Louth. Cathaoirleach of Louth County Council Cllr Dolores Minogue, spoke at the launch, saying libraries remained an important part of community life. “Libraries are among the most valued public services in our communities. They provide opportunities for learning, personal development, social inclusion and cultural participation,” she said. “This Programme demonstrates Louth County Council’s commitment to ensuring our library service remains innovative, accessible and responsive to the needs of our growing and diverse population.” County Librarian and Head of Cultural Services
Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme
Amanda Branigan said, “Our libraries are trusted, welcoming spaces that support reading, learning, creativity and community connection. “This Development Programme provides a clear roadmap for the next five years and will help ensure that our services continue to evolve to meet the changing needs of the people of Louth,” she said, adding the council is “proud” of what its libraries have achieved in the last five years and is “excited about the opportunities ahead.” The programme builds on a “period of significant achievement” for the council’s library service which it said had seen the opening of the new Dunleer Library, together with the recognition of Louth as Ireland’s first Library Authority to receive Library of Sanctuary status. It also noted that more people have been using its libraries in recent years, while opening hours have also been extended. “With a county-wide network comprising libraries in Drogheda, Dundalk, Ardee, Dunleer and Carlingford, together with the Schools Library Service and the forthcoming Library in the Community mobile service, Louth County Council Library Service continues to provide essential access to information, learning, culture and community engagement for people across the county,” the council stated. Louth County Council Library Service Development Programme 2026– 2030: Building for the Future is available at www. louthcoco.ie.