Fingal County Council has announced plans to improve dog runs in 2024, including increasing the size of the Millennium Park dog run, following “several representations” made by Sinn Féin Councillor for Ongar, Angela Donnelly.
Speaking on 92.5 Phoenix FM’s D15 Today programme on Tuesday (December 19), Cllr Donnelly was “really, really happy” that plans have been made by the council; Mary T Daly, Director of Operations and Water, confirmed improvements for next year last Wednesday following a motion submitted to the monthly council meeting on December 11. Cllr Donnelly states it was the tenth motion she had made regarding the issue, and as a dog owner, constituents’ concerns about local facilities resonated with her.
“The problem particularly with Millennium Park was there was no way to access it unless you went across grass. What they’re doing now is making it bigger, so I assume that means bringing it out on the left hand side to meet the path,” said Cllr Donnelly. If the trial in Millennium Park is successful, there are plans to extend this to Hartstown Park.
“What’s really promising is that in all of the dog runs in Fingal, they are going to review them under the headings of accessibility, the size, availability of water and the presence of seating, bins and signage […] I think sometimes we forget that it’s not all able-bodied people […] You see people out in wheelchairs with their dogs trotting along the side. There’s no way you would be going across grass in an electric wheelchair; it’s not practical.”
“My focus with the most recent motion and question really was on the dog owners as much as the dog themselves, to make it more user-friendly because ‘happy owners, happy dogs’,” Cllr Donnelly said.
Listen to the full interview with Cllr Angela Donnelly below:
