Dublin City Council reopened Diamond Park following extensive regeneration works by the Parks, Biodiversity and Landscape Services team. The official reopening was carried out by the Lord Mayor of Dublin Daithí de Róiste.
Speaking at the park opening the Lord Mayor said, “one of the outcomes of the COVID pandemic has been the acknowledgement of the importance of parks and green space for the physical health and mental well-being of people and communities. Bringing nature into the city provides many environmental benefits including air and water cleansing, but just having trees, birdsong and the changing colours of the seasons gives everyone a lift.”
Diamond Park is located on the corner of Sean McDermott Street and Gardiner Street Lower, a busy residential and business district in the north inner city. It is in close proximity to many social housing complexes and student residential accommodation. The revamped park has the potential to transform this part of Dublin and to act as a major resource for local residents, other citizens and tourists who are visiting the area in increasing numbers
Dublin City Council and the local community worked together on the vision, promotion, planning, design and development of the park and this collaboration will continue in the management and operation which will be key to the success of the park.
Workshops and presentations were held throughout the surrounding neighbourhood in primary and secondary schools, the Senior Citizens Centre, the adult learning centre and the local libraries, including information days in the park itself. This feedback set the challenge for the design team to make the communities vision a reality.
Diamond Park was designed by Gareth Toolan and Peter Leonard of Dublin City Council Parks, Biodiversity and Landscape Services in collaboration with Dermot Foley Landscape Architects.
Leslie Moore, Head of Parks, Biodiversity and Landscape Services said, “Diamond Park has a beautiful and functional greenspace but it purposely has a much more urban feel. It is cleverly designed to enhance biodiversity and to incorporate a range of amenities for everyone in the community whether you are eight or eighty.”
Originally the site of a number of terraced building in the 18th century, by the 19th century they had become tenements. The tenement buildings on the site of Diamond Park remained standing until the urban regeneration programmes of the 1980s that led to their ultimate demolition. The present park was developed in the mid-1980s as part of the Corporation Urban Renewal Programme. It was re-designed in 2003 to include a children’s playground and an all-weather pitch.
The transformation of Diamond Park has also incorporated the greening of Sean Mac Dermot Street and Gardiner Street, integrating the park with the wider public realm. This demonstrates Dublin City Council’s commitment to its ‘Greening’ strategies. Improving access to quality greenspace and nature where opportunities arise for the benefit of the local communities and visitors alike.
Features of the park such as the new playground, the first of its kind in the country, catering for both toddlers through to teens are exciting elements and will bring an added sense of local ownership and pride in the park.
Source: Dublin City Council
