Image courtesy of Community Gardens Ireland website
Community Gardens Ireland is a non profit organisation run entirely by volunteers. Their aim is to support and promote community gardens in Ireland and Northern Ireland. The organisation shares knowledge and information collected by all the individuals, groups and agencies working with them, connecting community gardeners around the island of Ireland.
In recent months Community Gardens Ireland presented to an Oireachtas Committee on the huge benefits that come from community growing spaces in Ireland, and how changes are needed to help more communities in Ireland grow their own produce.
Next month they will be meeting with Minister Peter Burke and Minister Malcolm Noonan on this. They will be asking for changes so that community growing spaces must be provided by local authorities where there is sufficient demand and for the doubling of the numbers of allotments & community gardens by 2025. Their full list of recommendations are here: http://cgireland.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/Community-Gardens-Ireland_Lets-Get-Growing.pdf.
And they need our help!
They are looking for every single person in Ireland interested in community growing to do the following:
Email Your TDs
Email all your local TDs (every party) and ask them to support this and to relay their support to Minister Burke and Minister Noonan. A draft email template is below – but feel free to use your own. See here to get your local TD contact details: https://www.whoismytd.com/
Share it!
Share this post with local growing groups, friends, family members, on social media etc.
Email Ministers
Email Minister Peter Burke and Minister Malcolm Noonan directly to let them know how this would be beneficial to your community group.
Minister Burke’s email addresses: peter.burke@oireachtas.ie
Minister Noonan’s email addresses: malcolm.noonan@oireachtas.ie
The more emails that are sent in, the stronger our position will be. Please help to make this change so that more communities can grow their own produce together in local areas throughout Ireland.
Sample Letter:
Dear TD,
Next month, Community Gardens Ireland will be meeting with Government Ministers to ask for their support to double the numbers of allotments & community gardens in Ireland by 2025. In addition, Community Gardens Ireland are asking for changes to require local authorities to provide community growing spaces where clear demand is present.
Community growing spaces such as allotments and community gardens are proven to be helpful for biodiversity and as a good local climate action. There is ample evidence that they help with mental and physical health, community cohesion, reduce flooding risk, reduce food waste, and so much much.
Despite this, there are fewer allotments & community gardens in Ireland then there were 100 years ago. Ireland has fewer allotments & community gardens per capita compared to Denmark, Poland, Germany and other EU countries. There is currently no national policy on allotments & community gardens and the legislation supporting them is weak.
I urge you to strongly support the recommendations that Community Gardens Ireland presented to the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Local Government & Heritage in March 2022, also copied here<http://cgireland.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/Community-Gardens-Ireland_Lets-Get-Growing.pdf>.
I also ask that you relay your support for these changes to enable more allotments & community gardens to Minister Peter Burke and Minister Malcolm Noonan.
Best regards,
YOUR NAME
You can download the letter as a Word document here: Letter to TDs – Community Gardens Ireland
You can learn more about Community Gardens Ireland on their website: http://cgirela