Address by President Connolly at Official Opening of Bloom 2026
Phoenix Park, 28 May 2026
A Chairde Uaisle, tá sé go hálainn a bheith anseo i bhur gcomhluadar i bPáirc an Fhionnuisce inniu chun seoladh oifigiúil a dhéanamh ar Fhéile Bloom na bliana seo. Gabhaim buíochas le Jim O’Toole, Príomhfheidhmeannach Bord Bia as ucht an chuiridh.
I am delighted to be here today to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the inaugural Bloom Festival. In those 20 years, Bloom has grown significantly, evolving and may I say blossoming from a promotional event for Ireland’s horticulture industry, to become Ireland’s largest garden and food festival. Covering a 70-acre site and welcoming over 100,000 visitors annually, it is a joyful celebration of Irish food, horticulture, sustainability and creativity, providing an inclusive experience for visitors of all ages and all interests.
Ar ndóigh, tugann daoine ó chuile chearn den tír aghaidh ar Bloom, iad meallta faoi mar a bhíonn na beacha chuig na bláthanna, agus iad ar bís inspioráid a fháil dá ngairdíní féin.
Tuigim dóibh agus mé ag breathnú thart ar an domhan draíochtúil atá cruthaithe agaibh anseo don Fhéile.
From plants to food, to designs for gardens, to crafts, Bloom invites us to stop and immerse ourselves in the sights, sounds and smells of nature. Indeed, it offers us the opportunity to reflect. What a wonderful start to the summer.
As patron of this festival, which I consider a very special privilege, I am pleased to note the growing emphasis on sustainability. Among many important initiatives, the Sustainable Living Stage and the Budding Bloomers Stage will host panels and workshops on a wide range of topics, including creating pollinator-friendly gardens. Show gardens and talks will emphasise organic farming, climate-resilient planting, and biodiversity.
Significantly, the festival itself has a number of initiatives to reduce its carbon footprint, including free shuttle buses and a biodigester, which will be used on treated waste to generate energy to be donated to community projects.
Moreover, two initiatives sponsored by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine and Fingal County Council, “Nature in Balance” and “Fingal Nurturing Communities through Nature” stand out. All of these initiatives are very welcome, and are an essential part of the solution given the existential threat posed by climate change, which itself is inextricably linked to our relationship, as a species, with nature, with the land and with our environment.
Today, as we mentioned, is the 20th anniversary of Bloom. This year also marks the 7th anniversary of Ireland’s declaration of a Climate and Biodiversity Emergency in May 2019. That declaration was accompanied by a firm commitment to take transformative action. In those 7 years, however, despite some very positive initiatives, this transformative action has not happened at the scale required. Just yesterday, we had the latest report from the EPA highlighting that Ireland will most likely fail to meet even half of its 51% emissions reduction target by 2030.
Central to any action on climate change, of course, is food security and sustainability. Ireland continues to import approximately 83% of all fruit and vegetables consumed, while we export approximately 90% of the food produced in this country. Clearly we cannot continue with business as usual.
Fortunately, individuals and communities are to the forefront in recognising this and providing us with sustainable models of living. Indeed, the initiatives on display here at this festival which I’m really looking forward to visiting, and the fantastic work taken by communities and individuals all around the country, are a source of inspiration and hope to me as President of Ireland. Many wonderful projects come to mind, including the recently published strategy by the Bohemian Cooperatives on Building Community Wealth, the Ballylongford initiative in Kerry, and Talamh Beo in Loughrea. All doing tremendous work.
These initiatives are an affirmation that small communities can make a very big impact. They are leading the way, they are implementing a food system where all people have access to healthy, nutritious and affordable local food.
Tá bronntanais áille ar fáil dúinn sa dúlra, sna plandaí, sa bhithéagsúlacht, agus i dtimpeallacht nádúrtha ár dtíre.
Tá faoiseamh agus sólás le fáil ó bholadh na mbláthanna agus ó fhoscadh na gcrann.
Tá beatha agus sláinte le fáil againn ón mbia a thagann chugainn go fial ón talamh.
Ach caithfidh muid a bheith aireach, a chairde, caithfidh muid a bheith cúramach agus meas a léiriú don domhan ina maireann muid.
Tá sé fúinne ár dtír agus ár dtimpeallacht a chosaint agus a chaomhnú sa chaoi go mbeidh oidhreacht saibhir agus inmharthana le fágáil againn dár gcuid bpáistí agus a bpáistí siúd.
Tá tús an tsamhraidh linn faoi dheireadh.
Cuirigí bhur gcuid plandaí agus bhur nglasraí, a chairde, i bhur ngairdíní, bhur gcuibhreann agus bhur mbalcóin.
Bainígí sult agus sásamh astu agus iad ag fás agus ag bláthú.
Go raibh míle maith agaibh.