Mullingar Tidy Towns aim to plant 3000 trees around town
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Planting a tree at Grange, Mullingar; Cllr Bill Collentine, John Connolly (Coillte), Niall Quinn, Ger Buckley (Coillte), Abdulsalam J Solladimeji, Samuel Ahipue, Camillus Flynn, PJ Fitzpatrick (Crann), Jemiluyi Emmanuel Taye, Cllr Andrew Duncan and Declan Montgomery.Image 2 of 7
Abbeylands residents association members with Cllr Bill Collentine, PJ Fitzpatrick and John Bawle.Image 3 of 7
Students from the Green-Schools committee at Mullingar Community College with PJ Fitzpatrick, John Bawle, Ger Buckley and teacher, Sinéad McGuirk.Image 4 of 7
Deirdre O’Reilly, Aoife Davitt (also a county councillor), Cllr Andrew Duncan, Cllr Bill Collentine and PJ Fitzpatrick at Loreto College, Mullingar.Image 5 of 7
Students from the Green-Schools committee at St Colman’s NS, principal Ger Behan, teacher Sinéad Duffy and SNA Linda Callaghan, with John Bawle, Mullingar Tidy Towns, and PJ Fitzpatrick, Crann.Image 6 of 7
Teacher Sam Carroll, Cllr Andrew Duncan, teacher, Aoife Davitt (also a county councillor), acting deputy principal Audrey Hanlon, PJ Fitzpatrick (Crann) and students from the Green-Schools committee planting at mountain ash at Loreto College.Image 7 of 7
Students at Mullingar Community College, and teacher and Sinéad McGuirk at a talk on trees by PJ Fitzpatrick, John Bawle, and Ger Buckley.Mullingar Tidy Towns, in an association with Westmeath County Council, Coillte and Crann (Trees for Ireland), are working on a project aimed at creating nature-friendly havens in the greens around Mullingar by providing native trees to communities in the town.
The Mullingar Great Tree Planting Project aims to plant 3,000 trees within the town over the next three years.
These trees will eventually form a green belt around Mullingar, improving the environment and providing several benefits to the community.
Mullingar Tidy Towns, Westmeath County Council Coillte and Crann will supply trees to resident groups in estates in Mullingar over the three years and they would like to invite you to be one of their flagship estates for 2024.
“We hope that you will join us in this important effort to enhance the beauty and sustainability of Mullingar,” said Cllr Bill Collentine, chairperson of Mullingar Tidy Towns.
“Urban Trees provide many benefits to communities, including improving air quality, providing a backdrop for recreation and wellbeing, and cooling.
“Trees also sequester carbon, reducing the overall concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.
“Participating in this tree-planting project will improve the environment and quality of life in Mullingar.
National Tree week
As part of National Tree week, Mullingar Tidy Towns visited St Colman’s National School to help principal Ger Beehan and the Green-Schools committee to plant beech hedging around the school.
Cllr Collentine, said: “As chairperson of Mullingar Tidy Towns, I want to give a huge thank you to all for helping us with this project for National Tree week.”
Also, as part of National Tree week, Mullingar Tidy Towns and PJ Fitzpatrick from Crann visited the residents association at Abbeylands, where they helped to plant a mountain ash tree. Cllr Collentine thanked everyone who turned up on the day, “especially as the weather was not the best, to show support for our tree planting event”.
On March 8, also during National Tree Week, Tidy Towns volunteers and members from Coillte and Crann visited Grange and planted another mountain ash tree, as well as beech trees and Scots pines.
New Beginnings Tree Project
As part of National Tree Week each year, Mullingar Tidy Towns visit secondary schools for the ‘New Beginning Tree Project’. Coillte donate hundreds of trees, and this year Tidy Towns teams and Coillte members Ger Buckley and John Connolly and PJ Fitzpatrick visited Loreto College and Mullingar Community College, where they spoke to first year students about trees and their benefits,
Cllr Andrew Duncan was also present to talk to the students as he is involved in the progress of tree planting in the town.
The students were given trees to take home with them to plant in their own gardens or community areas.
They planted a mountain ash at Loreto College and a birch at Mullingar Community College with the Green-Schools committees.
Each year Mullingar Tidy Towns host a competition for which students are invited to write poems or stories, or draw pictures about the trees they planted – prizes will be awarded to the best entries returned to the Tidy Towns. Mullingar Tidy Towns present plaques to the school for taking part in the National Tree Week event.
Cllr Collentine said: “I would like to applaud both colleges for the level of respect shown to us and members of Coillte and Crann – the students were outstanding they listened and asked lots of questions. We are looking forward to viewing their work and returning with the prizes.
“I would like to give a huge thank-you to Coillte, Crann and the Tree Council of Ireland for all their generous support and donations of trees to Mullingar Tidy Towns.”