Greening of Somerton

Background

Castleknock GAA provides access to GAA games to 4,500 members. If fields over 120 teams, consistently mainly of underage teams – Boys and Girls. It also facilitates various schools in the area to play schools representative games. It enables this through the provision of playing pitches and clubhouse facilities. In doing so it consumes water to irrigate pitches, electricity to illuminate pitches and provide power to its clubhouse, gas to heat water, and diesel to power machinery.

In addition to maintaining pitches, it also manages hedgerows and wooded areas around the boundary of its home ground in Somerton Park. All of this is done on a voluntary basis by its members. As a community centred organisation its acutely aware of its role to improve its overall environmental footprint and look to adopt sustainable practices in the way it manages its overall site.

Greening of Somerton

The club has decided to undertake a number of initiatives to improve its environmental footprint but also to act as a leader within the wider community as an exemplar of good practices that our members could adopt at home and other community organisations could replicate in their day-to-day practices.

Sustainable Travel

To encourage members to use their cars less or transition to EV driving the club is planning to implement the following.

  1. Enrol in the UCD bike library project to encourage people to use bikes in their day-to-day travel needs.
  2. Install bike racks to make it more attractive to travel by bike to Somerton.
  3. Install bike repair stations.
  4. Install EV Charging Facilities
  5. Create a walkway around the boundary of the site to encourage people to walk to Somerton and extend the use of the site to a wider group beyond GAA players.
Local Environment

To promote biodiversity and greater community engagement the club is planning to recruit its members to

  1. Plant trees in suitable locations on the site.
  2. Plant flower bulbs around the northern boundary of the site
  3. Engage with TY Students who are members of the club to make and install bird boxes on a number of mature trees on the Eastern side of the site
  4. Create a memorial garden on the northern section of the site.

The project aims to address several key objectives simultaneously. Firstly, by planting trees on underutilized areas, the club seeks to enhance biodiversity by creating habitats for various flora and fauna. These green spaces serve as shelter belts, providing refuge and sustenance for local wildlife while also promoting a healthier ecosystem. 

The strategic planting of trees can mitigate flooding risks by absorbing excess water, reducing runoff, and stabilizing soil. This proactive approach not only benefits the club but also contributes to broader environmental conservation efforts. 

The initiative fosters a sense of community among club members as they come together to participate in tree planting activities. This collective effort strengthens bonds within the community and promotes a shared sense of stewardship towards the environment. 

In addition to environmental benefits, the project also addresses mental health concerns by providing opportunities for outdoor activity and connection with nature.

Community Energy

To maximise the source of its energy needs from sustainable sources, the club will install solar panels on the clubhouse roof. The clubhouse benefits from a substantial unencumbered roof space facing south that has the potential to produce per annum 34MW of electricity. The current electrical requirements per annum is 25MW. That demand is likely to increase once we install EV Charging.  To capitalise on the potential surplus and reduce our environment impacts, the club will replace some of our hot water radiators in high use rooms, which are current heated by a gas boiler, to electrical radiators.  We also replace paper towel dispensers with hand dryers which will reduce our waste footprint.

Waste Management

To reduce the amount of waste going to landfill, the club will implement better waste management practices through the provision of more bins to segregate waste from Dry Recycling such as plastic containers, and compostable waste such as food and fruit waste.

We also plan to eliminate single use cups and plates that would normally be used in events within the clubhouse and replace then with reusable products.

Recycling

To encourage greater reuse of club gear and equipment the club will implement a number of initiatives.

  1. A boot and clothing swap service where members can bring the club gear that no longer fits and swap them for larger sizes.
  2. A hurley repair service.
  3. Collaboration with Uganda GAA to donate surplus gear.
Site map and notation


If you have any suggestions under any of these areas or you would like to get involved implementing any of these ideas can you contact  Michael Wylie Clubhouse Chair on clubhousechair@castleknock.net.