dlr shortlisted for Excellence in Local Government Awards

Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council has been shortlisted in the annual Chambers Ireland Excellence in Local Government Awards for the following projects:

• Creative Brainwaves-Ageing well in dlr! In the Age Friendly Initiative category.
• DLR Inclusive Water Sports Camps 2023 in the Health & Wellbeing category.
• Nature and Place in the Sustaining the Arts category.
• Myrtle Square & Convent Lane in the Urban Revival category.

The Excellence in Local Government Awards, sponsored by the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage are held to recognise and celebrate the outstanding work being carried out by Local Authorities all over Ireland.  Winners will be announced on Thursday 21st November.

Creative Brainwaves-Ageing well in dlr!

Creative Brainwaves is a multifaceted programme, designed to include a wide range of participants. The aim was to increase awareness of the positive impacts of creativity and inform about brain health via our partners – the Global Brain Health 2 of 6 Institute (GBHI).

Featuring neuroscientists, researchers and creative artists who all work in the arena of improving brainhealth. Singing, music, dance, poetry, art, writing and social connection can stimulate senses and improve cognition for those interested in brain health or for those dealing with dementia as an illness or as a carer.

The theme of the dlr Age-Friendly Magazine 2024 is ‘Good Brain Health’. The free 84-page full colour magazine is packed with information on services and programmes to encourage dlr’s older community to take part and enjoy the many age-friendly social, cultural, creative, educational, leisure and fitness activities and services available.

In 2023 dlr were delighted to be the first Library service in Europe to launch the Rendever virtual reality kit; developed for seniors health & well-being. The kit comes with wide-ranging content, creates shared experiences for older people, where the group can be transported into a shared immersive experience anywhere in the world, with mobility no longer a challenge!

DLR Inclusive Water Sports Camps 2023

Many children with complex and challenging disabilities are not able to access mainstream camps and even if there are the facilities, staffing and activities may not be suitable to their needs.

The DLR Inclusive Water Sports Camps have been put in place over the past three years to meet the needs of these children providing accessible, enjoyable and safe opportunities for all. The key objective of these 1:1 camps being the removal of barriers to access for children living with severe disabilities and who would otherwise never access a summer camp.

The camps comprised of four weeks of a range of water-based outdoor sports held in June and July with 80 children taking part. Activities with the delivery partner Active Connections included: kayaking, sailing, water safety, pier walks and group fun activities. Participants included children high on the autism spectrum, those with visual impairments, wheelchair users and sever intellectual disabilities.

Nature and Place invited artists to create work inspired by the forests of Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown and provided unique experiences for visitors to experience this contemporary work in a natural setting. Managed by Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council Arts Office, it was supported by Coillte and the Dublin Mountains Partnership. Méadhbh O’Connor’s sonic artwork Sky Walkers invited people to take a walk in the forests, and to stop at key points to listen and take a private moment to reflect. Photographer Martin Healy’s series of photographs Silva were captured while walking in and observing the forests over two months. A site-specific guided soundwalk, ReRoot, co-created by composer Robert Coleman and dancer Laura Sarah Dowdall, explored the sensory soundscape of Barnaslingan Wood.

The artists were awarded funding by dlr Arts Office to develop their projects between December 2023 and March 2024, with public events taking place in Barnaslingan and Carrickgollogan over a weekend in March.

The six forests that are the subject of the ‘Nature and Place’ art commissions are all part of the Dublin Mountains Makeover, a long-term project manged by Coillte Nature in partnership with the Dublin Mountains Partnership to change the forest management focus to forests where biodiversity and recreation objectives are the priority.

Myrtle Square & Convent Lane

Dún Laoghaire town has always lacked a plaza or public square offering locals and the broader community a gathering and destination space and this project was driven by the need to encourage regeneration and vitality in the town centre.

This involved the creation of a new town square and the upgrade of a connecting laneway. The most important step involved the removal of rat running through traffic. The square incorporates extensive tree planting, greening, play elements, seating and a landmark structure that has been planted with climbing plants.

The project is characterised by an emphasis placed on trees and greening. There are over 70 trees throughout the scheme. Trees and greening have many, proven health and biodiversity benefits in urban areas. The use of all the planted areas for SUDS (Sustainable Urban Drainage Systems) is the clever and innovative aspect of this project.

The project was officially opened in November 2023. The success of the project can be seen in the amount of footfall, particularly the number of children playing throughout.