Latest news with #EllaMcSweeney
Irish Examiner
6 days ago
- General
- Irish Examiner
Twenty-one farms to open their gates for free one-day sustainable farming showcase
Nature-friendly farms across the country plan to open their gates as part of a sustainable farming showcase. On August 31, a total of 21 farms across Ireland will be open to the public for a one-day event organised by Farming For Nature, a non-profit initiative that works with farmers to promote sustainable agricultural practices. Farming For Nature was set up in 2018 as a non-profit project established under the Burrenbeo Trust. Last year, the group launched the Farming For Nature Handbook, a practical guide to protecting and restoring nature. The handbook featured contributions from more than 50 Irish farmers, who shared their experiences of how working with nature can help reduce their overheads and boost incomes. The 'Inside The Gate' event is designed to boost public understanding of the importance of nature-friendly farming, including practices that support healthy soils, clean water, diverse habitats and sustainable food production. The 21 farms spread across Tipperary, Wexford, Mayo, Roscommon, Clare, Cork, Kildare, Kilkenny, Galway, Kerry, Laois, and Limerick will take part in Inside The Gate, showcasing their land and the progressive measures they have introduced to enhance biodiversity, reduce waste, and stem their greenhouse gas emissions. Mimi Crawford and Owen Crawford from Crawfords Farm in Tipperary which is opening its gates to the public as part of the nationwide Inside The Gate event on August 31. Tickets and more information on each location are available on a first-come, first-served basis on the Farming For Nature website. Events are free to attend, but capacity at the individual farms will be limited. Inside the Gate is supported by RTÉ Ear to the Ground presenter Ella McSweeney, who is encouraging as many people as possible to sign up for a visit on August 31, adding that the day is a 'really valuable opportunity for young and old, from all backgrounds across Ireland, to spend time on some of the most nature-rich farms in the country.' Co-founder of Farming For Nature, Brigid Barry, said: 'Hosted on 21 farms in 12 counties across Ireland, the 26 different events will give our participating farmers the opportunity to showcase the importance of farms which produce food with nature in mind.' 'In the past, many people in Ireland would have grown up with access to a farm through their extended family. "With the dwindling number of small-hold farms and farmers, that's not really the case anymore, so this is an opportunity to give urban and indeed rural people access to not just a working farm, but one that approaches food production in a sustainable and nature-friendly way.' Bruce Thompson of Camcloon Dairy Farm in Laois, which is opening its gates to the public as part of the event. RTÉ presenter and Inside The Gate patron, Ella McSweeney, said: 'Like so many people in Ireland, I grew up in an urban area with no direct connection to farming. "Over the years, through my work, I've been lucky enough to visit farms all across the country, and it's given me a huge understanding of how food is produced and how farmers can drive positive change on their land, to the benefit of all of us. 'The fact is that for most Irish people, unless you know a farmer personally, it's not at all easy to get onto a working farm. So I'm really thrilled that Farming for Nature farmers will be throwing their gates open to the public on 31st August. "It's an unmissable opportunity for people of all ages and backgrounds to spend time on a farm, meet the farmers and see up close how they produce food while looking after nature. Farming for Nature farmers have created some of the most nature-rich farms in the country.'
Irish Independent
01-07-2025
- Business
- Irish Independent
Sligo remains ahead of the game in terms of promoting its tracks and trails
And there was plenty of discussion about trail development, as well as engagement and sharing of ideas, much of which will be relevant as Sligo plans its future developments and broadens its trail offering. In the first instance, there was lots of interest in the Sligo Walks stand which was manned throughout the day. More than 250 delegates were in attendance and many came to ask about the wide range of promotional activity Sligo Walks carry out to ensure that the walks are among the most prominent activities for both locals and visitors to the county. Indeed, several other counties approached to say that they had looked in detail at the Sligo Walks website and overall structure when building their own trail promotion model, which was very heartening to hear. The comments varied from enquiries about the impact of the various methods we use to engage and inform walkers, from signage to video and podcasting, through to suggestions on how to tweak and improve the service, all of which was very welcome. Indeed, there are lots of areas in which Sligo has gone a step or two ahead of many other counties. This includes the creation of our ever-popular pocket maps, illustrated by Annie West, which are delivered the length and breadth of the county. What began as a small project has now expanded to 16 separate walks maps which are distributed not only to hotels and tourist offices around the county but in more recent times to counties Mayo, Roscommon, Leitrim and Donegal. These colourful and informative pocket maps include illustrations, details about the walk and trail specific information. Especially during the tourist season, we receive increasing requests from the service industry to provide these maps, and they are also a good barometer of where our most popular walks are situated. When you add this information to the data collected from walks counters at different locations around the county, they are a very useful asset in terms of future planning and the provision of walks infrastructure. The conference was expertly led by MC Ella McSweeney of RTÉ and included a number of keynote addresses, including by Dara Calleary TD, Minister for Rural and Community Development and the Gaeltacht (whose team organised the conference) and by Una May, CEO of Sport Ireland. Some of the most interesting presentations at the conference included the topics 'Responsible Behaviour in the Outdoors' and 'Best Practice in Outdoor Recreation.' A panel of experts was assembled who took questions about the challenging issue of how to engender respect and responsibility in walkers on our trails and how to avoid congestion, adhere to Leave No Trace principles and how to foster respect for landowners and other trail users. ADVERTISEMENT Learn more These are perennial issues, particularly since Covid and the resulting rise in walking numbers. And while all of the speakers raised different suggestions about ways to tackle these problems, the solutions really came down to two areas - education and respect. By engaging with walkers from a young age, this should foster a healthy relationship with the countryside. And respect relates to not just the environment, ensuring we leave the trail as we found it, bringing home our rubbish and that of our pet and ensuring we adhere to local advice and signage, but that we also have respect for our fellow walkers and for the landowners who in many cases allow free access to their land. This can be interpreted as simply showing a courtesy to other walkers as well as ensuring that gates are closed after us. It was also very interesting to hear from groups, communities and providers who have given their time, commitment and passion to develop walking experiences around the country. This covered a multitude of areas and there is no doubt that - based on their feedback - there are lots of opportunities out there for people who want to create a niche market in walking tourism. We heard from Martin O'Brien of the Barrow Valley Activities Hub in Kilkenny, who described the years of work that the community in Graiguenamanagh have done in relation to the development of walking and other public amenities in their locality, and the success that has ensued in terms of significant increases (as well as management) in the numbers of walkers that come to visit them. Aisling Hubbard gave a great talk about engagement in outdoor activities with marginalised groups as part of the Wicklow Travellers Outdoor programme. Kieran Reilly spoke about the Croagh Patrick Ambassador Programme - which led to a conversation as to how we might develop a similar programme in Sligo, particularly to protect our Neolithic landscape and Queen Maeve's Cairn, for example. These and other topics were covered during what was a busy day, which came to an end much too quickly, with follow up calls and conversations scheduled for the weeks ahead. As part of the breakout discussion group we took part in, great interest was shown in a recent Sligo initiative developed by Aidan McCormack and Sligo County Council involving the use of Artificial Intelligence to create walking experiences and the use of a QR-based audio guides at Hazelwood (we plan to return to both of these topics in more detail in the future). Based on the feedback and interest we had in both of these areas, Sligo continues to be ahead of the game in terms of online tools relating to trail development and promotion. It was great to engage with people from so many parts of the country, and it was also good to see Sligo well represented, from Fáilte Ireland to Sligo Sports and Recreation Partnership as well as Sligo Walks itself. The information gained will be a valuable resource as we strive to constantly improve our walking trails. And significantly, when you consider the experts that attended the conference and their willingness to share first hand experiences, it's evident that among the walking community, there's a great willingness to work together to improve the entire network of walks and trails.
Irish Times
05-06-2025
- General
- Irish Times
Happy holidays on the bog
Sir, –Ella McSweeney's article on the recreation of our disappearing bogs I found informative and awe inspiring (' Ireland's remaining bogs can have a second tale – of creation rather than extraction.' ) Our annual family day on the bog was similar to the holly day when the family gathered holly to decorate our home for Christmas – key days in the family calendar. In Ella's article there are many interesting facts about our 10,000 year old bogs. I recall our family's annual day in the bog where we spent the day on my father's favourite patch of bog which he had purchased years earlier. We learned how turf was harvested or saved as it was called – just enough for family use. The big event of the day was the tea and sandwiches – eaten as the smoke from our very own turf fire billowed around us. READ MORE So special are those memories that I can almost see them up against the background of white bog cotton waving gently or furiously in the breeze depending on the weather pertaining on the day – a strange and eerie picture perhaps but historical nevertheless. It is a special moment reading of the progress which is being made in reviving these stretches of wilderness by the dedication of many who silently work on various projects of renewal of our bogs. It is an ongoing process of patience and work – going well beyond our own lifetime, as Ella points out. – Yours, etc, MARY RIGNEY, Kilgobbon, Dublin 18.
