Martin Mansergh (Tipperary South, Fianna Fail)

The Iveagh Gardens are among the finest and least known of Dublin's heritage parks and gardens. Designed by the landscape architect Ninian Niven in 1865, the gardens demonstrate the artistic skills of landscape architecture of the mid-19th century. The gardens, only six hectares, 15 acres, in extent were landscaped as part of the Dublin International Exhibition of 1865. One of the objectives of Ninian Niven seems to have been to demonstrate the skills of the landscape architect, and this explains why such a wide variety of landscape features were incorporated into such a relatively small area.

The Dublin Exhibition Palace and Winter Garden Company was established as an institution to "afford to the people of Dublin and its neighbourhood national amusement, blended with instruction". As well as the gardens, a winter garden, a glass building, was constructed for "exotic" and "choice plants", horticultural exhibitions and musicals. A concert hall and exhibition areas were also constructed. As we know, the modern Iveagh Gardens are very close to the National Concert Hall which will shortly undergo extensive expansion.

The gardens display a unique collection of landscape features which include rustic grottos and cascade, sunken formal panels of lawn with fountain centrepieces, maze, rosarium and archery grounds. The conservation and restoration programme of the gardens by the Office of Public Works commenced in 1995. The cascade and exotic tree ferns all help to create a sense of wonder in this "secret garden".

The beautiful surrounds of the Iveagh Gardens have been host to a number of events including a series of concerts and family events held in association with the National Concert Hall and Bud Light Revue, a modern comedy carnival presented by Aiken Promotions, and on a recent weekend the Taste of Dublin festival, at which I met a former leader of Deputy Creighton's party, Dr. Garret FitzGerald, and his daughter, Mary.

It seems to have been a feature of these gardens over their history that they periodically fell into disrepair. In a previous incarnation as Coburg Gardens, they were described as "uneven, trampled and anti-picturesque" when purchased by Benjamin Lee Guinness from the Earl of Clonmel in 1862. It could be argued that another period of benign neglect characterised their stewardship by University College, Dublin, while the main campus of that body was located at Earlsfort Terrace. In 1991, because of their heritage value, the gardens were placed under the stewardship of the OPW, whose brief was their restoration and conservation, while allowing greater public access.

The OPW brief was under six distinct headings: to conserve and restore a unique city centre park, which has remained largely unaltered since its layout by the landscape architect Ninian Niven; to improve public accessibility by constructing a new entrance from Hatch Street; to focus attention on one of Ireland's most influential landscape architects and horticulturists, Ninian Niven, by conserving one of his few surviving landscape creations; to conserve the internal and perimeter vegetation to screen out adjacent office blocks and buildings; to highlight the large range of landscape features for public enjoyment and landscape appreciation; and to restore these gardens creating a major tourist attraction offering a unique landscape not available in other city parks and gardens in Dublin.

While the restoration programme is now substantially complete, this oasis of calm and tranquillity remains submerged in, but largely unaffected by, the busy hubbub of the city centre. While the comprehensive conservation and restoration works programme undertaken in recent years has, in enhancing the beauty of the site, undoubtedly raised its public profile, it had nevertheless retained its original secluded atmosphere. I used to work in Iveagh House and one or two of the windows may have overlooked the Iveagh Gardens in the distance, but having worked in Dublin for 20 or 25 years I only entered the gardens for the first time in the past eight years. I say that to my shame, not to my credit. I have been there a number of times since but it reinforces the point that many people do not know about them.

While the Iveagh Gardens were never designed for or envisaged as a venue for anything other than passive recreation, in recent years the OPW has come under pressure to make them available for large-scale public events. Their proximity to the National Concert Hall makes them a natural venue for promenade concerts and open-air theatrical performances. They have also seen the public display of artworks, all complementary to the OPW's stated goal of making them more accessible to the public for compatible purposes. They have also been used to host events such as a comedy festival and the Taste of Dublin food fair, as I mentioned, which involves limiting public access to a large part of the gardens for the duration of these events, usually for a period not exceeding a few days.

These events can have an effect on the physical infrastructure of the gardens, which has to be managed. The water table is very high underneath the gardens, particularly at the archery grounds, and prolonged heavy use of this area leads to damage to the grass. The Iveagh Gardens are a very small site and full of historic landscape features. They are, on a smaller scale, in the same category as St. Stephen's Green and Merrion Square, and I am not aware of suggestions that part of either of them should be turned into a football pitch. Recreational facilities for young people in suitable locations close to where they live and in their schools is very important, but care is also needed not to lose for good the character of an important, if partially hidden, piece of the city's heritage.

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