Lusk Tidy Towns
GREEN TOWN - CLEAN TOWN
About Lusk Tidy Towns
Lusk Tidy Towns was established in 1980 and a group of dedicated volunteers work tirelessly for 44 years keeping Lusk tidy in addition to some wonderful projects around the town. In 2024 a new committee took over the reigns and are striving to build on the great work done.
We are always looking for volunteers
Biodiversity & Nature
Biodiversity is essential for life to thrive. Plants, animals and other lifeforms live together in communities called ecosystems. Biodiversity is a measure of the variety of lifeforms in an ecosystem; the greater the variety, the more likely all living things—including humans—will thrive. Lusk and its hinterland is one of the largest food production regions in the country. Pollinators and essential to the success of our food growers which is why a healthy biodiversity is essential.
1
Plant Native Trees & Shrubs
Flowering trees can be particularly important for pollinators in springtime because many types bloom early, when little else is in flower to provide food. When Bees wake up from hibernation and there is not enough food they can starve.
2
Biodiversity Friendly Mowing
One if the best things you can do for our pollinators is not to mow your grass during the month of May. It allows spring plants to grow and set seed before they are cut down by mower blades. Why not leave a section of your garden
3
Let Dandelions Grow
It is not overstressing the point to say that the Dandelion is the most important food plant for our insects in spring. If we had more Dandelions in Ireland we would have more pollinators. We know that from mid-March until mid-May it is vital for our bees and other early flying insects like butterflies. After the plant has finished flowering it produces seed that is a great favourite with birds such as the Greenfinch and Goldfinch. The leaves of the plant are also food for a number of moth larvae, including the beautiful Garden Tiger moth.
Volunteers
We are always looking for volunteers. They are a wide range of jobs in Lusk Tidy Towns and no matter what your interest there is something for you. Volunteering is a great way to meet new people and it really enhances the sense of community in our town.
Contact us today
Biodiversity
Maintaining pollinators, bird box’s, bat box’s and inscet hotels
Streetscapes
Maintain, clean enhance our streets furniture.
Planting
For those with green fingers, maintaining existing planters and pollinator areas and adding new areas.
THE SWIFT PROJECT
The swift is on the Red list of birds of conservation concern in Ireland because its population has declined by over 40% in the last 15 years. Swifts are faithful to their nest sites. Once they have found a place to nest, they will return to it every year for the rest of their lives. The Swifts we see in Lusk are the same birds that fly all the way from Africa just to breed and they need our help!
Lusk Tidy Towns will soon start a project to identify sites where we can install box’s for our winged friends to breed, they need to be as high as possible ( which is why old churches are towers are perfect), ideally close to the eaves of a building with a clear flight-path as Swifts need to be able to free-fall as they leave the nest. Swifts nest in colonies, meaning 3 nest boxes would meet the minimum requirement for attracting them to nest.
These beautiful creatures need our help and Lusk Tidy Towns will soon start a program to help increase the population of these special birds and wouldn’t it be wonderful to see them flying around our own Round Tower where once, they no doubt would have nested.
The Swift is a small migratory bird which arrives in Ireland and Lusk to breed from Africa in May and departs in August each year.
It is a supreme flyer, with recorded speeds of up to 111 kph, spending virtually all of its life airborne and never seen resting on wires, as Swallows and Martins frequently do. They breed, eat, drink, mate and even sleep in the air, spending up to 10 months on the wing.
Lusk has been lucky to have a breeding population of Swifts for many years however in recent years we have seen a big decline, most likely due to the amount of construction.
They rely on buildings for nesting and raising young, with old and historic buildings such as castles, old houses and churches particularly important for the species, providing an ideal habitat in the form of holes and crevices in which to nest and roost.
In the Clonmacnoise’s Round Tower they can be found nesting and the sight and shrill call of them around the tower is very much a part of the heritage of the area.