Newsletter 20 September 2024
Busy Sunday Morning
We had a very busy Sunday morning from the early hours. Watering, dead heading, litter picking and sign washing and all before noon.
We had 27 volunteers out. Pat collected 6 bags of litter collected and in addition from litter picks during the week he collected 2 bags of litter plus 1 bag of glass and believe it or not 1 bag of vapes.
Autumn is definitely on the way as we collected 1 bag of leaves for our composter bays from Leo Murphy Terrace. 
Butt & Gum Out!!
Every Sunday morning Denis empties the Gum and Butt Bins and thankfully the bag is getting heavier each week. We are very happy with the results and really appreciate the support of people by using them. For every butt put in the bin it’s one less we have to pick up. Thank you.
A Very Busy Monday
Gay, Tom, Sunday and Keith started their Monday back on Killumney Road to trim back overhanging briars and grass. They then removed weeds from the flower bed at the back entrance to Muskerry Estate and they cut grass on the bank there as well before moving to cut the grass at back to An Caislean.
A lot of work done before noon.
Busy Tuesday at Eastgate
Jimmy, Sunday, Tom and Sunday were back at Eastgate to finish the project they started last week. The difference from when they started is amazing and the footpath is much safer after their work. They also removed a large number of suckers from a tree in the green. They removed 5 tonne bags of cuttings on Tuesday from this area. This now completes this project.
Shameful
On Monday morning while watering the Killumney Road planter we noticed 4 or 5 lovely mature geraniums gone “missing”.
We put a lot of time, effort and hard earned money to put these plants there and to maintain them to the best of our ability. This is all done on a Voluntary Basis so we are very disappointed that someone thinks that it is ok to “take” these plants. Shame on you, whoever you are.
Watering Teams On The Go
Both of our Watering Teams are still on the go as our planters are still both thirsty and hungry. The lovely burst of sunshine is brightened by our planters which are still looking well.
On Sunday morning the planters at Eastgate were watered fed and got a trimming. They took 750 litres.
On Monday evening the Team were out for 3 hours. They watered all the planters on the railings, poles, the tiered planters and the Parklet.
They used 1,150 litres and when we work it out, our planters used 288 litres per day.
Generous People
On Monday one of our committee was stopped by a resident of Ballincollig. He thanked her for all the work that she and all great work that our “fantastic” volunteers do week in week out and handed her €50 to get coffees for them.
What a lovely kind gesture. We are very grateful for your kindness and kind words.
Wednesday Works
Wednesday morning Ger, Keith, Sunday and Tom had a busy time.
They returned and finished off the edging on the Link Road on the right hand side from MD O’ Sheas to the lights on the Kilumney Rd. A full van load of bags with the results of their work were collected and recycled as well as a bag of leaves from Cranford Pines entrance following the residents work.
Lord Mayor’s Visit
We recently had a surprise visit from The Lord Mayor of Cork City Councillor Dan Boyle and two Biodiversity officers from City Council namely, Usna Keating and Rosemarie McDonnell and Cllr Garret Kelleher to our HQ as they were launching an upcoming conference A Celebration of Biodiversity Action in Cork which was held last Saturday.
They said it was lovely to be given a tour of our allotment and see all the sustainable, circular economy and biodiversity related work that the Ballincollig Tidy Towns are involved in.
The conference was about celebrating the great work that communities are doing for biodiversity.
Below are some photos of Sunday, Keith, Tom and Vince with The Lord Mayor in our allotment.
Busy Thursday
Ger, Sunday, Tom and Keith had a busy Thursday morning where they removed 4 tonne bags of bindweed from the palm trees on the Carrignarra Road and the news is that the bindweed where they cut the stems last week has begun to die back.
Tom then used the edging machine to prepare the Link Road for the GAA volunteers coming on Saturday as part of the National initiative by the GAA.
News from Biodiversity Ireland
September 2024
This monthly newsletter provides an update on some of the work of the National Biodiversity Data Centre and highlights upcoming events.
Growing Team to Meet Strategic Goals
The National Biodiversity Data Centre is thrilled to announce a significant growth spurt. In just six months, our team has expanded from 12 members to 22, reflecting our commitment to achieving the ambitious goals outlined in our new Strategic Plan for 2024-2028. This plan aims to foster a deeper understanding and appreciation of Ireland’s biodiversity, ensuring that informed decisions are made to protect our natural heritage.
Biodiversity Ireland Summer Magazine
The National Biodiversity Data Centre has published its 26th edition of Biodiversity Ireland which is our bi-annual newsletter. It is a way of showcasing aspects of the project work of the National Biodiversity Data Centre, but also to highlight some of the recording and survey work undertaken by key partners.
Features in this issue include the Centre’s five-year Strategic Plan, work completed to create a new database on Ireland’s ants, and an update on the biodiversity recording activity of the recorder network in 2023.
Ladybird Atlas 2025
The Ladybird Atlas 2025 project is now coming to the end of itspenultimate field season. The project has two overarching objectives. First, toincrease the amount of observation of ladybirds in order to produce morecomprehensive distribution maps for our species of ladybirds. And second, toimprove knowledge of habitat preferences of the different species of ladybird.
It is easy to help with the Ladybird Atlas 2025 project. If you see a ladybirdand are sure of its identification, please submit your sightings throughIreland’s Citizen Science Portal. Ladybirds have their own specific recordingform, which is linked here.
As part of our Ladybird Atlas 2025 project, we set up a dedicated “Ladybirds ofIreland” dataset, which now has 16,850 records, across all 32 counties and for33 different species. Throughout 2024 there has been some great recordingactivity, with already 1,508 records being added to Biodiversity Maps.
All-Ireland Pollinator Plan Team – Wild Bee Festival 2024
We had a fantastic weekend in Galway for this year’s Wild Bee Festival. On the 17th and 18th August, the All-Ireland Pollinator Plan team went to Knocknacarra Community Centre for a weekend of talks, walks and workshops on how to help pollinators in our communities.
We heard from several fascinating speakers including Grace Clinton from Fenit’s Changing Tides in Kerry, who have been doing great work helping the rare Large Carder Bee, Rob Steed from Galway City Council who talked about creating community meadows around the city, and Caroline and Colin Stanley who have led a variety of creative projects to protect Merlin Woods. Paula Kearney, Galway City Council’s Biodiversity Officer, took us on a tour of Barna Woods and showed us Galway’s first pollinator-friendly rain garden built by Shantalla Men’s Shed.
A huge thank you to Galway City Council for collaborating with us on this year’s festival, and to all the inspiring speakers. Keep your eyes peeled to find out where we’re visiting next year!
Hedgerow Week Highlights: Farmland Biodiversity
On Wednesday 28th August 2024, the National Biodiversity Data Centre attended the Teagasc and Heritage Council – Farmland Biodiversity event held in the beautiful Birr Castle demense and wildflower meadow. The event marked the start of ‘Hedgerow Week’.
Pippa Hackett, Minister of State for land Use & Biodiversity spoke about the importance of biodiversity for farms to the many landowners in attendance. The head of the Heritage Council, Virgina Teehan, spoke about the work done by Teagasc to support farmers working with nature.
There was good engagement with attendees around invasive alien species and the wider work done by the National Biodiversity Data Centre. Our ‘Hedgerow Through the Seasons’ poster proved very popular with all attendees. You can download your free copy below.
Ireland’s Biodiversity Learning Platform
Ireland’s Biodiversity Learning Platform is a free resource for everyone! You can learn about biodiversity from the comfort of your own home and get certified for your work!
All of the courses are free to take and perfect to get ready for the next field season.
1. Identifying Ireland’s common farmland hoverflies
2. How to Identify and Record Ireland’s Ants
3. Spiders of Ireland
4. How to identify, record and monitor common Irish bumblebees
(no certificate available)
5. How to identify Ireland’s butterflies
6. Garden Butterfly Monitoring Scheme
7. Pollinator Friendly Farming
8. Ireland’s farmland birds
9. Marine Biodiversity Citizen Science Open Course
