COMHAIRLE CONTAE ÁTHA CLIATH THEAS
SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

MEETING OF CLONDALKIN AREA COMMITTEE

Wednesday, September 19, 2018

MOTION NO. 3

MOTION: Councillor M. Johansson

"That this committee agrees that, following on from the successful submissions made in the 2018 Participatory Budget, this Council ensure as an imperative that the Community Orchard Project in Clondalkin and any planting of apple trees in the County be sourced from our Ancient Irish Species as a priority."

REPORT:

Planting which took place under the Participatory Budget scheme in 2017 to develop a community orchard in Lucan involved a mixture of apple tree varieties and these included some Irish heritage varieties along with other popular cooking and dessert varieties valued especially for their resilience and reliable fruit productivity.  There are a limited number of suppliers of Irish heritage apple trees in the country and these trees tend to available at a relatively small size which unfortunately makes them vulnerable to vandalism.  For this reason, a mix of varieties was included whereby a proportion of popular apple tree varieties which are available for planting as larger-sized, more robust trees were included to act as a supporting nurse crop to aid the establishment of the Irish heritage varieties.  It is intended to develop on the knowledge gained in creating the Lucan orchard to create a similarly diverse and varied orchard in Clondalkin which will include Irish heritage apple varieties.