Portlaoise set to bloom with ambitious new Biodiversity Plan

The future of Portlaoise looks set to bloom with native wild flowers and bees, attracting flocks of eco tourists bringing another kind of vital green.

Last Thursday, April 27, Portlaoise Tidy Towns which already has had success with biodiverse meadows, took a huge step forward to launch its first Biodiversity Plan.

The lengthy 100 page document sets out clear aims to achieve by 2028, to protect and restore local nature, in every area from housing estates to main roads, parks to busy streets.

Top of those goals is encouraging the community to mow grass less often, allowing a surprising array of native wild flowers to grow that are waiting in the Portlaoise soil, including many native Irish orchids.

Below: Portlaoise Tidy Towns members at the launch. Photos: Alf Harvey

The plan also paves the way to get Government funding, with Laois County Council CEO John Mulholland promising to help achieve those goals.

“There are plenty of avenues available, let's get on with the work. 

“We are starting from a good position, with the town's Low Carbon plan, improvements to the public realm and with what businesses and homes are already doing. There is a choice now to walk in the woods or take a stroll down Main Street and they are equally uplifting, you have done a great service,” he said at the launch.

Gerry Browne, chair of the award winning Portlaoise Tidy Towns, promises they will succeed in making it “a town in a garden”.

“We commissioned Brian Gaynor and Dr Fiona McGowan to undertake this important plan. We could not have picked two more passionate people who care deeply about biodiversity and our town.

“We will meet these targets head on, this will not be left sitting on a shelf, some actions are already started,” he said.

Below: Caroline Hofman, managing director The CUBE; Gerard Mulhall, chairman Downtown Portlaoise; Cllr Catherine Fitzgerald and Gerry Browne, chairman Portlaoise Tidy Towns at The CUBE, Portlaoise for the launch of the Portlaoise Tidy Towns Portlaoise Biodiversity Action Plan 2023-28. Picture: Alf Harvey.

Dr Fiona McGowan, consultant ecologist and botanist, wrote the plan with landscaper and environmentalist Brian Gaynor.

“There are already some great areas for biodiversity in Portlaoise, like the Ridge graveyard. The biodiversity crisis can feel very overwhelming, that's where this plan comes in. It's empowering. We can do something on our doorsteps. They call it 'greening the grey'. Changing the look and the enjoyment of urban areas,” she said. 

Brian Gaynor said the plan builds on previous projects he has done with Portlaoise Tidy Towns and Laois County Council, including meadows along roads and in estates, some of which weren't even seeded, but grew themselves.

“It's probably one of the ares we can make significant gains. Traditionally we mowed large areas with no benefit or purpose if they are not used for ball games. And it cost money every 10 days,” he said.

Planting trees and reestablishing wetlands are also in the plan.

“The meadow we did with Kilminchy residents was filled with frogs that the children picked up and brought back to the lake as we mowed it at the end of summer. If you just mow a path through it, it invites you in.

“There is huge potential in Portlaoise for eco tourism, between the woodlands, the Esker ridge, grasslands and peatlands,” he said.

Cathaoirleach Cllr Thomasina Connell said that every community has a responsibility to respond to the Biodiversity Crisis, declared by the Dáil in 2019. 

“This plan highlights the positive effects of biodiversity for people in Portlaoise. Lets get it off the paper, into our hands and onto the land,” she said.

The launch was the first event in The CUBE centre for low carbon business excellence. 

Attendees included many volunteers with the tidy towns group, all receiving a pollinator friendly wallflower plant.

Jackie McCloskey from Portlaoise lends a hand.

“I like it, I pick litter and plant flowers and I make friends,” she said.

Dublin native Ruth Sullivan is volunteering for the past six years.

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"I absolutely love it, it's great to be part of something bigger than yourself. I started on the residents committee in Esker Hills and then the late Jerry Lodge asked me to come on a Saturday and volunteer. Since then I've come every Saturday and Wedesdays in the summer. People are there from all walks of life, once you put on the high vis we are a team, and we take great pride in it," she said. 

See the plan in the library or on the Portlaoise Tidy Towns website.