Located on Reuben Street, the Lord Mayor, Christy Burke, said: "I am delighted to be associated with this community garden here in the heart of Rialto and Dolphin's Barn. To see this site transformed into such a beautiful place where people can come and enjoy working with nature to produce organic vegetables and fruit, is a credit to the local community and those who have been involved with this project. The addition of the grow dome will enable the people who garden here to extend the growing season by using state of the art technology. This is a true community effort and I congratulate all those who have been involved in developing this garden over the last three years."
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Flanagan's Fields Community Garden, which stands on part of the site of the former Fatima Mansions, has been developed over the last three years by local groups and organisations with the assistance of Dublin City Council.
The garden is maintained through organic gardening practices which include biodiversity and companion gardening techniques. It is a learning ground for youth projects, schools and interested groups in the area and provides an area for workshops for new community gardening ideas. In addition to the twenty volunteers who regularly tend the garden, work parties from Google and nearby Diageo have also helped out on occasions.
The garden is now home to Dublin's first geodesic grow dome. This 11 metre wide intensive, all-year round sustainable food growing tool is an iconic artwork in its own right. Completely off-grid it uses harvested rainwater and a static hydroponic technique which can produce crops all year round. The Grow Dome Project is the work of four local residents, Niall O'Brien, Jamie Roche, Eoin O'Neil and Ivan Rynn.
(CD/MH)
