Coláiste Chú Chulainn Dundalk plant urban orchard

Local school students in Coláiste Chú Chulainn have installed Dundalk's latest urban orchard on their school grounds.

The project was led by a group of students in 3 Darwin, led by Daniel Connolly, Mervedi Muteba and Lukas Vasaitas.

Daniel Connolly explained:

"We have a huge campus right in the centre of Dundalk. when we looked around, we realised that there was the potential to produce our own food, to absorb carbon and also to support pollinators in the area.

“Our class had a bake sale and raised the funds to buy a variety of 25 apple, pear, cherry and plum trees.

"It is important for us to increase public awareness of the environment so we planted the orchard along Marshes Avenue where motorists and pedestrians could see the fruit growing.

"As young citizens, we are passionate about the environment and sustainability.

“We have our own compost in school, made from grass cuttings and food waste. This went into the planting of our new trees.

“We supply our own hen and duck eggs for cooking in school. Ms Caroline Slevin from Hoek Flowers visited school and advised us on the growing of trees and flowers on our campus.

"The next step in our project is to welcome local beekeeper Paul Boyle to school to assess the viability of our campus as a locating for bee hives and the production of school honey," he concluded.