The redevelopment Waterstown Park in Liffey Valley has been officially opened by Deputy Mayor of South Dublin Gus OConnell.

Works have provided a greater level of accessibility to the Liffey Valley to people across the county.

Along with a new carpark there are now over 5km of paths through the scenic Liffey Valley and a 2km cycle track.

It is one of the first publicly accessible parts of the river Liffey outside of the city.

"It is also the most valuable park in South Dublin County in terms of its ecological diversity with over 300 species of plants, animals and birds. This diversity is particularly important given the parks urbanised setting," said a south Dublin council spokesman.

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Waterstown Park also has areas of national and international importance as it lies within the area covered by the Liffey Valley Special Amenity Area Order and part of it is covered by a proposed Natural Heritage Area designation.

Over the past number of years several developments have taken place to make the park accessible to the public. The network of paths and cycle tracks allow greater access into the Liffey Valley and along the banks of the Liffey.

The new car park was built as a shared facility with Stewards Hospital providing mutual benefits to users of both facilities. The Parks Department now have a temporary work compound in the park which has greatly improved the security and maintenance in the park.

Much of the development has been based on the recommendations of an ecological study which was carried out here between 2005 and 2007.

The study was carried out to establish what wildlife existed and how the park should be developed in a way that would preserve the parks special characteristics, while allowing public access.

(PR/JM)