South Park meadow


A sea of buttercups brighten the grasslands of South Park, near the Claddagh. In the background is a goalpost from one of the playing fields – the park is popular with local teams. The park was out of bounds for a number of years when soil testing a decade ago showed contamination – presumed due to the fact that South Park used to be a landfill site. After much rumination about what todo to de-contaminate the soil – during which time, ball games were prohibited on the pitches – the soil was retested again in 2014. This time, the soil was deemed ok, having been treated with nothing more than the passage of time. A bit like a troublesome computer, switching it off and on again seemed to do the trick. They should probably stop testing the soil there, now that they’re ahead.