Speech at the Official Opening of Bloom 2016
Phoenix Park, Dublin, 2nd June 2016
A Dhaoine Uaisle,
Is mór an pléisiúir é a bheith anseo inniu agus muid ag seoladh an deichú (10ú) taispeántas Bloom. Tá sé ina dhlúthchuid de saol sósialta na hÉireann agus is ionann oscailt Bloom agus tús an tsamhraidh. Tá cion mór ag an bpobal ar an féasta seo agus chuile bhliain meallann sé níos mó na céad míle (100,000) cuairteoir.
It is a great pleasure to be here today as we celebrate the opening of the tenth annual Bloom show. It has embedded itself into the social calendar of Ireland. Indeed, for many, Bloom is now synonymous with the beginning of Summer. It has become a much loved festival which attracts upwards of 100,000 visitors every year.
That is an impressive figure for an event which was originally created to promote amenity horticulture (or to most of us “gardening”) and to showcase garden plants and design. From that original vision, the annual highlight that is Bloom has grown and flourished into a world class garden show and a celebration of the best of Irish food and produce. I believe that twenty-five show gardens are taking part in Bloom this year, in addition to over one hundred Irish food and drink producers and almost two hundred retailers.
All involved in this achievement are to be commended. These achievements have been made while allowing Bloom to stay true to its origin as a celebration of gardening and to provide a showcase for garden plants, garden design, and the nursery stock industry.
Amenity horticulture is a dynamic sector which contributes much to the Irish economy. Last year, its farmgate value was €64 million euro with exports valued at €16 million euro. It is an industry which has created direct employment for some 7,000 people but also generates employment in related activity. Bloom, which over the years has been attended by almost seven hundred thousand people is an important showcase in promoting this vibrant sector.
Tá fás agus forbairt tagtha ar Bloom arís i mbliana. Tá na smaointe agus na tionscnaimh nua atá ós ár gcomhair inniu suntasach.
This year Bloom continues to evolve and innovate. The new ideas and initiatives which we can encounter here today are impressive.
Ireland’s first evolutionary garden, allowing visitors to stroll through the unfolding history of plants across half a billion years, is a remarkable garden designed by researchers from University College Dublin.
As well as being a richly creative experience, it is also inviting and important in that it is greatly educational, enabling a deeper understanding of the diversity of species that exists, and indeed that are under threat in the world today, and a profound appreciation of the importance of combating climate change as we seek to preserve our fragile planet and hand it over, in good shape, to future generations.
I understand the garden will go on to be on permanent display on the university campus following its time in Bloom, where it will serve as an important educational tool for the many citizens who will have the opportunity to visit it.
Bloom always manages to address the relevant issues of our times.
Another development, and there are many, which particularly interested me was the number of partnerships between organisations such as GOAL, the Marie Keating Foundation, Social Farming, UCD, Fingal County Council and St. John of God Hospital and talented garden designers, who have come together to create spaces in which powerful messages can be expressed.
The Demascene design of the GOAL Syria Garden, and the ‘fault line’ delineating pre and post civil war Syria depicts the tragic devastation that has been visited on the people of Syria.
Its strong depiction of the enforced departure of one family from their homeland speaks evocatively of the responsibilities of our shared humanity, our human rights obligations and how such obligations must never be weakened by narrow and short-term self interest, xenophobia or even apathy.
In other gardens, light and shade remind us of the many people in our society whose lives are shadowed by difficulty and depression. Barriers and separate pockets of space portray the importance of pushing beyond the boundaries of familiarity in order to realise all that is possible, while imaginative use of colour brings us deep into the emotions of those facing serious illness.
Bloom 2016 recognises our year of commemoration.
Cuireann na gairdíní seo, agus gairdíní eile anseo inniu, i gcuimhne dúinn le linn na bliana comórtha seo go bhfuil dúlgas orainn, mar sochaí agus mar stát daonlathach, poblacht a shamhlú agus a thógáil ar fíor-phoblacht é, poblach as a mbeadh ár mbunaitheoirí bródúíl agus a léiríonn tír atá fréamhaithe sa mhisneach agus a bhfuil fís agus spiorad daonnachta flaithiúil ag baint léi.
These, and other gardens here today, remind us in this year of commemoration of our duty, as a society and a democracy, to take on our own responsibilities in imagining and building a Republic in the fullest sense, one of which our founders would be proud and which is truly representative of a nation rooted in courage, vision and a profound spirit of generous humanity.
Indeed, I am delighted that Bloom has selected its own very special commemoration of 1916 by paying tribute to the children who so tragically lost their lives in and around the streets of Dublin during that founding moment of our nation.
The thought and sensitive consideration that has gone into this special garden which recreates, with such authenticity, a cobbled Dublin street is very apparent. The garden is a moving reminder to us of the forty children who lost their lives one hundred years ago as they played, ran errands or were simply being pushed in their prams through the streets of Dublin; lives so tragically cut short as Ireland fought for freedom from British rule.
I am deeply grateful that those children, forgotten for almost a century, have been reclaimed in recent years by the work of Joe Duffy and others. Today we also have reason to be grateful to Jacinta Sullivan whose powerful story of the Children of 1916 was the inspiration for the garden, and to Fiann Ó Nualláin who so creatively turned those inspirational words into the garden on display here today.
This annual gathering also offers a good opportunity to engage with farmers and artisan food and drink producers, and to learn more about what is involved in producing what we consume.
It reminds us of the importance of ethical sourcing and manufacturing of food and that local product development and availability are critical to the vitality of our rural communities and to keeping alive the critical interconnections between man and nature, which carries within it the knowledge to ensure food security. Science and governments are challenged in addressing how to produce 40 per cent more food for a projected global population of 9.4 billion while reducing the climate change challenge to our planet’s future in diversity.
Indeed, Bloom encourages each and every one of us to play our part in making our living habits and our environment more sustainable. An integral part of this annual festival is the opportunity to engage with those organisations who work to save our environment.
Such engagement educates us to select plants and trees responsibly in order that they will support our wildlife and protect and enhance biodiversity. It informs us of the importance of protecting our wildlife which is so vital to a healthy ecosystem. In Áras an Uachtaráin we have a bee hive in our garden, and I am delighted that here at Bloom visitors can learn how beekeeping, by introducing pollinators, which are in trouble in Europe, into an area, can have a profoundly positive effect on the environment and act as a key process in terrestrial ecosystems.
Bloom offers visitors many opportunities to remember that, while significant decisions are being taken at conference tables around the world, each and every one of us can, in our daily lives and decision making contribute significantly to the creation of a cleaner, safer and better world.
So there can be no doubt that Bloom 2016, is further proof that this annual event in its pursuit of innovation and relevance has the capacity to continue to go from strength to strength, providing a valuable opportunity for gardeners, horticulturists, landscape designers and food producers across Ireland to meet and publicise their produce, creations and skills.
For its many visitors it is an inspiring visual experience, a reminder of the beauty and serenity of nature, an opportunity to seek advice from professionals and a chance to sample food that has been produced in harmony with nature, and without damaging the natural capital on which we all depend.
In conclusion may I commend and congratulate all those who have worked so hard to deliver Bloom 2016 and wish all those visiting over the next five days a most enjoyable and inspiring experience.
Go raibh míle maith agaibh go léir.
