HORIZONS:By
SYLVIA THOMPSON
Olympic success story
Mayors from the Canadian town of Whistler and the Italian Alpine town of Morbegno were at NUI Maynooth yesterday to present their award-winning sustainability projects to planners and community and business leaders. The Morbegno project included fitting hundreds of local houses with solar panels. Whistler, which hosted this year’s Winter Olympics (right), became home to 30 new sustainable buildings during the Games and also saw reductions in local carbon emissions. For reports on the event, which was organised by RealEyes Sustainability, see realeyes.ie.
Go medieval in Dublin
Tales of Medieval Dublin is a series of free monthly lunchtime talks on medieval life.
Held at the new Wood Quay venue of Dublin City Council’s offices next to the River Liffey in central Dublin, the talks will offer insights into the everyday lives of merchants, warriors, outlaws and women from Viking times to the 14th century. Organised by the Friends of Medieval Dublin, the talks run from 1.05pm until 1.45pm on Tuesdays until the end of the year. The next one is on Tuesday, July 13th. See fmd.ie or contact Friends of Medieval Dublin on 087-6877156.
Galway Garden Festival
The 15th-century Claregalway Castle, in Co Galway, is the venue next weekend for the first Galway Garden Festival. The castle – one of the earliest De Burgo tower houses – has been saved from near collapse by a restoration programme that began in 2003. Visitors to the festival can take tours of the castle to see its collection of 16th- and 17th-century furniture. Gardening experts, ecologists and naturalists will give talks; and the Beekeepers’ Federation and Organic Centre are among the stallholders. See galwaygardenfestival.com.
ECOWEB:butterflyireland.com and irishbutterflies.com. Check out these sites to find out all you can about Irish butterflies.