Strike threat to Botanic Gardens plants is denied

Duchas, the heritage service, has rejected claims that plants and flowers at the National Botanic Gardens in Glasnevin, Dublin, are under threat after 16 gardeners were suspended in an industrial dispute.

A spokesman for Duchas, which owns the centre, said administrative staff had taken over the duties of the gardeners and there was "no danger to the plants and flowers". He added that the gardens remained open to the public.

The craft and charge-hand gardeners, who are members of SIPTU, were suspended last Friday after they refused to participate in a new training programme at the Teagasc-run College of Amenity Horticulture located in the centre. They have been picketing the gardens since Monday.

Mr Brendan Sayers, one of the gardeners, said he was concerned about the welfare of a number of plants, especially indoors types such as South American orchids.

"If the suspension goes on we will definitely be losing amounts of plants. Some of the plants in the gardens would be the only representatives of the species in Europe. They should be handled only by people who are trained to deal with them.

"By just going in and splashing water about you're not going to be able to cultivate them properly."

The dispute is over the introduction of a new continuous assessment scheme for students at the Teagasc college. The gardeners, who are employed by Duchas, have already been involved in practical tuition and supervision. However, under the new scheme, they would have additional assessment tasks.

A Teagasc spokesman said it was hoped the dispute could be resolved as quickly as possible to minimise disruption to the college's 150 horticultural and 70 green-keeping students.

"We are reviewing the situation on a day-to-day basis," he said.