Peter Donegan, Landscape Designer and Broadcaster, talking ‘Garden Design Trends’ in Sonairte last Sunday.
The first Food and Craft Fair in the Eco-Visitor Centre, Sonairte, at Laytown, Co Meath took place last Sunday 3rd March in good spring sunshine. A combination of factors resulted in nearly 500 visitors on the day. Apart from good weather, the Sunflower Café was serving delicious carrot and ginger soup, light lunches, teas, coffees, scones and cakes. There were 18 stalls in the Grand Hall and upstairs in the panoramic Upper Room. When the weather warms up a bit, many of these could be outdoors in the courtyards.
Guest speaker, Peter Donegan, an award winning designer, spoke in the Bee Museum about ‘Trends in Garden Design’ to a packed room. He quoted many other experts in this field of knowledge, such as Matthew Jebb, Director of the Botanic Gardens in Dublin. Essentially, no matter how good a garden design, a major makeover is needed every 10 – 12 years, to prevent the look of neglect taking hold.
Each 1st Sunday of the month will see a vibrant Food and Craft Fair in Sonairte 11am – 4pm along with a special event or guest speaker. The next event on Sunday 7th April will be a good film, ‘How Cuba Got By Without Oil’, showing in the Sonairte Bee Museum at 2pm that Sunday afternoon, 7th April. Entrance to Sonairte and the Fair is free, but the film entrance is €3, good value!
Trevor is co-founder and was, until his appointment to Government, a board member of Sonairte, the Irish National Ecology Centre, near Julianstown, County Meath which is an Agricultural Training and Visitor centre with a 2.2 acre walled organic garden. He is also a member of Amnesty International, the Dublin Food Co-op, the Irish Organic Farmers’ and Growers’ Association, Organic Trust and a former member of Macra na Feirme. A former teacher and fluent Irish speaker, he relaxes by reading, walking and playing music. His favourite form of relaxation is tending to his prolific organic garden at home in Balbriggan, North County Dublin, an area known by many as Fingal.
