Irish community garden among the top 10 Green Flag Award-winning parks

Santry Community Garden

Santry Demesne Community Garden in North Dublin recognised as one of the best loved green spaces internationally

Sports & Parks

Read More: Green Flag Awards Irish Parks

10 February 2022

Santry Demesne Community Garden, in North Dublin, is amongst the world’s top ten Green Flag sites, the results of the Green Flag Peoples’ Choice Vote have revealed.

Every year, the Green Flag Award winning parks from across the globe enter into the ‘People’s Choice Award’. As the name suggests, this award is voted for by the public, and recognises the best loved green spaces internationally.

Throughout the past few years’ parks and green spaces have been especially important for us to walk, exercise, explore relax and unwind. And in over 2,300 parks and green spaces were awarded with a Green Flag Award in the 2021-22 season.

International accreditation for public park excellence in Ireland increased again last year, when Ireland was awarded a total of 103 Green Flag sites, comprised of 84 formal public Green Flag Park sites, along with 19 volunteer run Green Community Sites.

The top voted-for parks from ten countries are:

Site Name	Managing Organisation	Country
Santry Demesne Community Garden	Fingal County Council	Ireland
Yildiz Grove	İstanbul Büyükşehir Belediyesi	Turkey
Provinciaal Groendomein Rivierenhof	Provincie Antwerpen	Belgium
Jardim do Monte Latito	Câmara Municipal de Guimarães	Portugal
Campus de la Universidad de Navarra	Universidad de Navarra	Spain
Máximapark	Gemeente Utrecht als partner in de Parkorganisatie Máximapark	Netherlands
TECT All Terrain Park	Western Bay of Plenty District Council/Tauranga City Council	New Zealand
Roma Street Parklands	Brisbane City Parklands	Australia
The Presidio of San Francisco	The Presidio Trust	USA
Katariinan Meripuisto	City of Kotka	Finland

Santry Demesne Community Garden, in North Dublin, is located within the old walled garden of Santry Demesne Park. The wider park of Santry Demesne is itself a Green Flag Award Site since 2017.

Santry Community Garden successfully applied for the Green Flag Community Award for the first time in 2021. Operated by volunteers it is supported by Fingal County Council – which celebrated a total of 8 Green Flag Award wins in 2021. The Community Awards have been operating as part of the Green Flag Award Scheme within Ireland since 2018, with the support of the Department of Rural and Community Development.

“Santry Community Garden is now well established, having been in operation for over 10 years,” said Robert Moss, Republic of Ireland Green Flag Award manager. “It serves many people within the local community who live within apartment complex developments surrounding the wider park. It is partly for this reason that it has attracted so many votes … because it is such an important amenity for these residents. Also of significance is the fact that the 2021 season is now the fourth year in a row for which Ireland has seen one of its parks and gardens voted to be among the best in the world, as part of this public vote.”

Only awarded for exceeding tough environmental standards in green space management, and excellence of visitor attractions – the Green Flag Award for Parks is the mark of a quality park or green space and is recognised throughout the world. An Taisce Environmental Education have been operating this scheme within the Republic of Ireland since 2016.

The 2021 awards were available to public town parks, country parks, nature parks, forest parks, historic parks, national parks, gardens, greenways, cemeteries, and public green spaces from across the whole country.

The Green Flag Award now operates in 16 countries around the world including: Australia, Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Mexico, New Zealand, Portugal, Republic of Ireland, Spain, Sweden, The Netherlands, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, and the United States of America, – celebrating over 2,300 Award winning parks and green spaces annually.

“This isn’t the first time this year that people have been vocal about their love for parks,” said Carl McClean, international development manager for the Green Flag Award. “The effects of the pandemic have meant that more and more communities are valuing the outdoor spaces that they have local access to, and I hope that this voice is also heard loud and clear by political leaders.”

If your park is interested in participating in the Green Flag Award Scheme, or you want to find out further information about the Green Flag Award Scheme or other programmes run by An Taisce Environmental Education then please e-mail us at rmoss@eeu.antaisce.org or telephone: 087 4623302.

Read More: Green Flag Awards Irish Parks