Gaelscoil an Choillín goes green for frogs

“Ribbit,” the frog at the entrance of the Gaelscoil an Choillín addresses visitors as they file into the Halla Spóirt. Standing about four foot tall and holding the door, it’s followed up with a “Dia duit”.

The green greeter is welcoming guests to the launch of the school’s Biodiversity Project, a series of frog ponds located on the green area near the boundaries of the school on the Lynn Road.

The frog ponds form part of a mini park including green spaces, pathways, walkways, seating, and picnic tables to create a welcoming environment where people can relax and enjoy the outdoors.

“Today is about celebrating the recent funding that we’ve received from the Sustainable Development section of the Department of Education. We applied with Tidy Towns as a group and we were awarded the maximum funding of €25,000. So we’re absolutely thrilled,” Trína Ní Nualláin, Leas Phríomhoide na Scoile, said of the gathering.

Among the guests the doorfrog had welcomed were Irish biologist and television presenter Éanna Ní Lamhna, Cllr Bill Collentine of Mullingar Tidy Towns, Robert Ryan of Westmeath County Council, and David Quinn of the Local Authority Waters Programme (LAWPRO). The invitation was sent out to a number of people who are connected to the school’s biodiversity efforts.

Setting a musical tone for the celebration were first class pupil Fia (harp), Cathal from second class (concertina) and representing sixth class Ella (fiddle).

Paul Heduan, a parent involved in the programme to set up the frog ponds, introduced Éanna Ní Lamhna to those in attendance.

“Projects like this are really important for biodiversity, specifically something like a pond in the middle of somewhere where there is no open water,” the environmental commentator said.

Community water officer with LAWPRO, David Quinn, covers counties Longford and Westmeath: “LAWPRO assisted here with the frog ponds. Mullingar Tidy Towns approached us, along with the school because the local frog population kept going on the road.”

Frogs have strong migration and breeding instincts influenced by environmental cues such as temperature, rainfall, and the time of year. Typically, many frog species breed in spring or early summer when conditions are optimal – warm temperatures and abundant water sources like ponds or wetlands.

The amphibians gravitate to their place of origin. The frog’s pond was originally in what is now the school car park.

Lorraine Ní Sceallaigh, Príomhoide na Scoile, explained that when the car park was first put in place, the frogs continued to follow their previous pathways: “The teachers were shocked by the number of frogs on the road here, but the students loved it.

“We devised a solution to implement a wetland area here at the side of the school, which is beside the River Brosna,” David said of the measures to find a new, safer route for the amphibians. “It’s a nature-based solution, whereby we could take the runoff from the road and it is filtered through the frog ponds and then into the Brosna. It also provides education and awareness to all the students and for the wider community here in Mullingar.”

The new frog ponds on the Lynn Road are an outdoor classroom area: “it is very much a community led partnership. Westmeath County Council and the Tidy Towns group really got behind it, it’s very exciting to have this in the area,” Trína said.

The project has created a little enclave of countryside in the middle of a busy urban area: “We’ve created this green area, made it available to everyone and it’s just fabulous. We’re more than happy to be involved in the project,” Bill Collentine said of the Tidy Towns involvement in the project.

Príomhoide Ní Sceallaigh thanked a number of people who contributed to the making the frog ponds a reality including Ruth Illingworth, Féidhlim Harty, Sean Dorr and Isolda Keaney.