Dublin City Council has announced that Ringsend Park has achieved its first-ever Green Flag Award, a prestigious international mark of quality for parks and green spaces.

After being introduced into Ireland in 2015, the Green Flag Award is an international benchmark for the standard of parks and is administered by An Taisce with the aim of recognising and rewarding good park management and encouraging high environmental standards.

In order to mark the occasion, Cllr Dermot Lacey, Chairperson of the South East Area Committee, Dublin City Council, hosted a Green Flag raising ceremony. Speaking at the ceremony, Mr Lacey said: "This is a great day for our Parks Service and a great day for Ringsend and the surrounding community. I am honoured and delighted to see such further improvements and look forward to the commencement of work on the Ringsend Library Plaza. This project shows Dublin City Council's ongoing commitment to enhancing local infrastructure and serving the needs of the area."

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Leslie Moore, Dublin City Council City Parks Superintendent, commented: "Ringsend Park is such an asset to the local community and a model park for the range of amenities it supports. At the edge of the docklands, at the heart of the city it is an oasis of green space with mature trees and a range of habitats for wildlife. The local community as well as the local parks staff will be very proud to raise the Green Flag today to celebrate this award and the great work done by many in the community to maintain and protect this park."

To qualify for the award, parks must submit a thorough management plan and undergo assessment by independent assessors. The award is granted yearly, with a €500 application fee per park. Evaluation involves scrutiny against 27 criteria across 8 standards, requiring fulfilment of all criteria for the Green Flag to be awarded.

The eight standards are:

•A welcoming place

•Healthy, safe and secure

•Clean and maintained

•Sustainability

•Conservation and heritage

•Community involvement

•Marketing

•Management.