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We constantly have to compete with these headline
s, easy headlines that don’t reflect the community. In Muck And Magic, he was sure to include a series of raised flower beds, propped up like tables so as to enable wheelchair users a chance at working the soil. “You can get your wheels right under it,” he demonstrates. “People wouldn’t think of that.” “My angle with the City Farm is that I have a foot in the door teaching people who are physically challenged, mentally challenged,” Ronnie explains. “For people who have different challenges, animals are the best cure of all, petting goats, sheep, rabbits.” The bacteria in soil too, he says, “stimulates the brain.” “For blind people, it’s magic. Cerebral palsy, it’s magic. Even if they can’t dig, they love it.” The one pressing concern for Ronnie is the future of his beloved garden. The site on which it is run was put up for sale two years ago. “I’m a bit afraid. It’s so well organised. Ah, I’ll be sad to see it go.” “It just needs to be moved to the new location,” Stephen insists at this point. “Muck and Magic will be a part of it. You immediately have an element of the farm established here and that amount of investment put in over the years… None of it will be lost.” The blueprint for the City Farm was completed in April 2019 and submitted to Dublin City Council. “It has been agreed that a proposed site for the City Farm and Community Gardens will be included in the development of a Masterplan for a site at Balbutcher Lane,” their spokesperson commented. “We’re going on a portion of this site,” Stephen informs me himself as we stand on Balbutcher Lane. “It’s something we need to agree to: the exact amount of land they want to give us, and as soon as we sign off, we can make plans.” And although, Stephen explains later that Covid-19 caused delays to the process. thanks to the wonders of Zoom they’ve been able to keep the momentum going, working away in the background. Nothing is stopping the new day from coming, as far as they are concerned. Ballymun doesn’t end on a note of neglect and decay. “It’s a whopper of a story,” Ronnie says. “Deep down, everyone loves gardening,” he tells me. “They just don’t know it yet. As a kid, I remember my teacher bringing in Frey Bento aluminium trays, planting seeds in them. Behold! Marigolds. Hook, line and sinker. I was a market trader for 30 years, but as soon as I stopped, I was totally addicted to gardening. Everybody’s got it in them. They just need a little coaxing. Grow a sunflower from start to finish. Grow something.” The Muck and Magic Garden is located in Ballymun, (beside St. Pappins Church) and open Monday and Wednesday from 10.30am to 1pm and Wednesday evening from 6pm to 7.30pm. Further information on the City Farm can be found at dublincityfarm.ie 28