A week ago, the children of 5th and 6th Class visited the Tydavnet Group Water Scheme Plant in Knocknagrave, Co. Monaghan as part of the Green School Water Flag application.
As school trips go, it was such a most pleasant experience that was enjoyed by all.
Tydavnet Group Water Supply Scheme supplies water to over 1,000 homes and over 340 farms in the locality and is such a huge success story in the locality and indeed provides inspiration for other such projects countrywide.
We were given a tour of the state of the art facilities and were met by Sean, Carol, Brian among others who spoke passionately about the project and its hopes for expansion in the future. We were also privileged to hear from the National Federation of Group Water Schemes guest speaker also who spoke about our roles in water conservation and about the project itself.
The highlight among many was a tour of the biodiversity garden that is a huge feature of the site. Brian Mac Domhnaill, who was seen of late on Nationwide (6th September) showing off his own garden gave us an exceptional tour of the local flora and fauna seen in the blossoming garden. It is well worth a watch on the RTE Player. It was such an education to hear him speak about all the plants and their values and a privilege to be in the presence of someone who knew so much about wildlife and botany. The children collected blackberries, asked some fantastic questions and contributed thoroughly to the outstanding tour that it was.
A huge thanks to Mrs. Madden who organised the trip from afar and met us at the centre on the day. It was such a worthwhile visit and we cannot thank Tydavnet and Sean enough for hosting and for treating the children with sweets and goodies also.
