The awards, which celebrate international accreditation for public park excellence, has seen Ireland secure a total of 103 Green Flag sites, comprised of 84 formal public Green Flag Park sites, along with 19 volunteer run Green Community Sites.
Along with the milestone number of green parks across the country, this year also marks the successful roll-out of Green Heritage Site Accreditation across Ireland. With the support of the NPWS and the Department of Housing, Local Government, and Heritage, seven Irish Green Flag sites have now also been accredited to Green Heritage Accreditation standard. Green Heritage Site Accreditation is awarded to public green spaces of historical and cultural significance.
An Taisce Environmental Education announced the 2021 Green Flag Awards, with 32 local authorities and park operators now partnering in delivering the international scheme.
New green flag parks and gardens, accredited by teams of trained volunteer judges, include for the first-time sites from Counties Carlow, Meath, and Galway, as well as from Cork City.
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Only awarded for exceeding tough environmental standards in green space management, and excellence of visitor attractions – the Green Flag Award Scheme is the mark of a quality park or green space and is recognised throughout the world. This year over 2,300 public sites in 16 countries around the World have achieved Green Flag or Green Flag Community Award status.
The Green Flag awards are available to public town parks, country parks, gardens, cemeteries, nature parks and green spaces from across the whole country.
This year has also seen the number of Green Flag Community Award sites in Ireland continue to increase. Additional community run parks and gardens were accredited in Counties Fingal - North County Dublin, Kildare, Kilkenny, Louth, Mayo, and Roscommon. Across Ireland 19 community groups are being acknowledged for the excellence of their volunteer run community green spaces this year.
The Green Flag Community Award extends the Scheme to include community initiatives such as Community Gardens, Community Parks, and Tidy Towns Projects. By providing our community green spaces with access to Green Flag Award best practice we empower community groups to improve their local community and environment.
The Minister of State for Community Development and Charities; Joe O'Brien said: "Since 2018 the Department of Rural and Community Development has supported An Taisce with the expansion of the Green Flag into our community run spaces. By doing this we have been able to leverage the Green Flag Award values and standards for the benefit of our communities and their voluntary work.
"I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of the hard work put in by park staff, and community volunteers, across the country. Not only in achieving this Green Flag Success for Ireland today, but in maintaining the many parks, gardens, and greens across the country for our mutual benefit. It is a great credit that they largely remained open and well managed at this difficult time."
The Green Flag Awards are judged every year by a peer jury of green space experts, who volunteer their time to visit applicant sites and assess them against eight strict criteria, including horticultural standards, cleanliness, sustainability, and community involvement.
