News 

The success of our green spaces was celebrated at the annual Green Flag Awards at Mossley Mill. Site managers from across Northern Ireland were recognised on Wednesday for the pivotal work they do in maintaining public spaces critical to our local communities. Community groups were also celebrated for their dedication in maintaining and enhancing their local green spaces.

A record-breaking 122 sites were awarded this year. This included 86 Green Flag Awards and 36 Community Green Flags. 7 Heritage Awards were given to sites that also demonstrated excellence in the care of their heritage elements. Two sites also received Green Flag NI Pollinator Awards.

The Green Flag Award programme in Northern Ireland is sponsored by Power NI, part of Energia Group, and supported by the Department for Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs.

Minister for the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs, Andrew Muir, said:

“I am proud to support the Green Flags programme, and it is truly encouraging to see so many people who care deeply about their communities and green spaces.

Our green spaces benefit the whole community, and it is important that everyone feels welcome, safe and encouraged to avail of the wonderful facilities in our parks which provide us with healthy spaces to live and relax. The prestigious green flag celebrates a standard of excellence, and I look forward to seeing the green flags flying high from our parks and green spaces.”

This year, the awards focus on ensuring our parks are safe spaces for women and girls. The awards aim to promote the message that our green spaces should be open to everyone in our society and that we should do everything we can to ensure that women and girls feel safe in all parts of Northern Ireland. These awards can serve as a timely reminder to ensure that all parks and green spaces remain safe and secure.

Junior Minister Joanne Bunting said: “These awards are an opportunity to celebrate those who help make our parks and green spaces places of pride, connection and wellbeing. I commend Live Here Love Here, local councils, community groups and volunteers for their dedication to maintaining these important spaces and congratulate all award recipients on this well-deserved recognition.

“While Northern Ireland is consistently one of the three safest places in which to live in the whole of the UK, sadly violence against women and girls continues to have a devastating impact here. The theme of this year’s awards which focuses on making parks and open spaces safer for women and girls, highlights the importance of ensuring public spaces can be enjoyed by everyone.”

Junior Minister Aisling Reilly said: “Congratulations to all those who received awards. Your work is vital in providing welcoming outdoor community spaces for families and people of all ages and abilities. Our green spaces are at the heart of many communities – places where people can come together to play, exercise and socialise, keep healthy and look after their mental health and wellbeing.

“The Executive Office is committed to ending the scourge of violence against women and girls, so I want to thank all those working to ensure that our parks are safe, welcoming spaces that can be enjoyed by everyone in our community.”

Speaking about the awards, Eric Randall, Chief Executive of Live Here Love Here said;

“Our parks are a centre point of our communities. They play an important role in supporting our environment and promoting well-being for our citizens. This year, we want to focus on ensuring that these green spaces are accessible and safe for all, most importantly, women and girls. The awards were a great opportunity to share best practices in this area and hear about how other places have tackled this issue. We have read and heard about some of the appalling statistics about violence against women and girls in Northern Ireland. As a society, we need to tackle this issue and ensure that all parts of our society are safe. Today’s awards are a reminder of the role our parks can play in supporting all of us and why we need to keep raising awareness of the need for everyone to feel at home in the shared spaces we all love.”

The Green Flag programme sets international standards for our parks to strive toward and provides an important benchmark for the public to understand the quality of what is on their doorstep. This programme offers the opportunity to share best practice across different countries. 

Note to editors

Crime rates in Northern Ireland are significantly lower than in England and Wales. This information has been sourced from  https://www.psni.police.uk/about-us/our-publications-and-reports/our-performance

To view the full list of Green Flag Award winners for Northern Ireland, visit https://bit.ly/Green_Flag_NI

For more information about the Green Flag Awards, please contact Claire Irwin at claire.irwin@liveherelovehere.org.