Post by Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage

Today, Minister of State for Nature, Heritage and Biodiversity, Christopher O’Sullivan announced an additional €5 million in funding for urban nature-based solutions projects across Ireland. This investment will support projects that help manage surface water, enhance biodiversity and reduce flood risk in our towns and cities, while contributing to climate resilience and improved water quality. Announced at the National Nature-Based Solutions Conference at Dundalk Institute of Technology, this funding will help scale up and mainstream nature-based approaches in communities nationwide, building on the strong work already underway through local authorities and the Local Authority Waters Programme . Read more: https://bit.ly/4eknPxT Photo 1: Opening the conference, Minister Christopher O’Sullivan planted an iris in DkIT’s rain garden. Pictured: Front row: Dr Suzanne Linnane (DkiT), Fran Igoe (LawPro), Minister Christopher O’Sullivan and Thomas Brennan (LawPro), with back row: Dr Caroline Stephens (DkiT), Averil Gannon and Eamonn O’Connell (LawPro). Photo 2: Minister O’Sullivan meets Peter Iver and Dara Peyton from Dublin City Council who demonstrate their nature-based solutions model Photo 3: DkIT’s rain garden is an example of a nature-based solution in action which takes road run-off, cleans and stores it before releasing the excess slowly back in to the drainage network.