News from 2012

Another Good Turnout for 2012 AFRA Christmas Party

The 2012 AFRA Christmas party was held in the Clybaun Hotel on Saturday 1st December.  Around twenty-seven people turned out on the night and a good night was had by all.

Shrub & Bulb Planting on 10th November a Success

On 31st October GCC, as part of their Community Planting Initiative (CPI), provided the AFRA with approximately 35-40 shrubs and three bags of daffodil and red tulip bulbs to plant in the bush/shrub areas of Ard Fraoigh.  These were provided at no cost if the AFRA agreed to plant them.

We held a successful event on Saturday 10th November to plant the shrubs and bulbs and carry out a few other jobs.  The weather was cold but dry and approximately eleven people turned out on the day.  The work started at 11am and with everyone's help we completed all the planned work by 1:30pm.

We achieved a lot over the course of the afternoon.  All the shrubs were planted on the bare patches of the bush/shrub area between houses 49 & 50 (between the entrances to the first and second cul-de-sacs).  Prior to planting, these bare patches required extensive preparation work, including the clearing out of briars and ivy.  All the bulbs were planted in the grass verge between 49 & 50, about one foot out from the shrub border.  The shrubs at the corner of no. 50 were cleared back from the footpath to bring the shrub border in line with the rest of the bush/shrub area.  Brian Forde will seed the newly cleared area with grass in the coming weeks.  The sycamore tree behind lamp post 5 was removed in preparation for delivery of a replacement oak tree and the existing trees were pruned at the base to promote growth at the top.  Altogether, the clear-out and pruning material we removed almost filled seven brown bins.

Thank you to everyone who turned out and participated and to all those who gave the use of their brown bins (seven bins 75% filled with clearings and cuttings).

A special thanks to Mike Corcoran and Brian Forde for all their efforts in securing the shrubs and bulbs from the GCC and for weed-killing the bush/shrub area in advance of the planting.

We will see the results of our efforts in spring 2013 when the daffodils and tulips appear and in the years ahead when the shrubs begin to fill out.

Ard Fraoigh Clean-Up on 1st September a Success

Another successful clean-up of Ard Fraoigh was carried out by residents of Ard Fraoigh on Saturday 1st September.

The weather was dry but windy and approximately 14-16 households participated.

All the public green areas were cut for grass and the edges strimmed, all weeds were cut back, the bushes and shrubs were pruned, all kerbs were swept and sprayed with weed-killer.  A special thanks to Brian Forde for spraying the kerbs.  He was unable to complete the job on the day so took some time out of his week to finish the job.  Finally, all litter was picked up and bagged.

In total thirty refuse bags were filled with weeds, prunings, grass cuttings and litter.  Also removed from the bushes and shrubs were two front car struts, a broken wall mirror, a car battery and a bike.  The bags and litter were collected by Galway City Council the following week.

Dervilla Campbell prepared a splendid outside tea party at 2pm.  The food and tea/coffee was welcome by all.

Thank you to everyone who turned out and contributed to the effort.

Ard Fraoigh Bush Pruning Clean-Up on 24th March a Success

A clean-up was carried out by residents on Saturday 24th March to remove rubbish that had accumulated in the bushes over the years and the unsightly prunings left behind by the GCC parks department pruning, in particular the areas pruned since the last clean-up on 10th December.  We removed all the rubbish and prunings from the bush and shrub areas between the entrances to the first and second cul-de-sacs, the pruned area to the left of the entrance to the second cul-de-sac and at the end of the second cul-de-sac (opposite no. 32).

Once again we were lucky with the weather and we got a dry mild afternoon.  This contributed to a good turnout of almost twenty people and nearly as many children and we completed the clean-up in just over two hours. 

As well a filling twenty-one large refuse bags (eight with rubbish, the rest with prunings) and two bins with glass, we also gathered one large pile of prunings and loose timber, and a very large quantity of stone.

Galway City Council collected the refuse bags and loose articles but could not collect the pile of loose prunings as they were not bagged.  So, on the following Saturday morning (31st March) nine hardy souls turned out on short notice and bagged the remaining pile of prunings.  The city council subsequently collected same.

Thank you to everyone who turned out and contributed to the effort on both days.

Bush Pruning Complete for 2011/2012

On 21st November 2011 Galway City Council Parks Department commenced pruning all the bushes and shrubs in Ard Fraoigh and clearing the firebreak behind Ard Fraoigh.  They have now informed the AFRA that they have completed the pruning work in Ard Fraoigh for 2011/2012.  They will review the bush and shrub areas in Ard Fraoigh at the end of the summer to determine, in light of the summer growth, if any follow-on work is required; if so this will be done over the winter of 2012/2013.

The areas they have pruned are the end of the first cul-de-sac (opposite no. 67), the end of the second cul-de-sac (opposite no. 32), the area between the entrances to the first and second cul-de-sacs, the shrubs lining the main road into Ard Fraoigh (between Clybaun Road and the first cul-de-sac), and some of the bushes to the left of the entrance to the second cul-de-sac.