I only got to this wonderful article by Catherine Cleary in Saturday’s Irish Times this morning. It was such a joy to read:

It reminded me of how nature makes city living so much richer for everyone. It also took me back to my April Country Diary about the Botanic Meadow in Lower Botanic Gardens. This wildflower meadow, research garden, and community garden is currently under threat of being turned into an all-weather sports pitch, thanks to a “restricted business” decision by Belfast City Council (BCC) made without any consultation with local people. As my short piece and the above article make clear, the restorative power of nature is especially significant for city dwellers, which makes the peremptoriness and short-sightedness of BCC all the more galling.

A delightful outcome of my own piece was that I was contacted from Canada by a man who was born in 1956 on the Botanic Meadow, when it then was home to families living in the Botanic Bungalows. It was also joy to hear from Bill, and to get confirmation that our meadow does indeed “grow people” past and present. I can only hope that the momentum towards preserving our meadow will grow as well.