The Skerries Wild Bee Festival 2022

The Skerries Wild Bee Festival 2022 was launched by the Mayor of Fingal Cllr. Howard Mahony at Skerries Mills on Friday, August 26, 2022. The three-day event from August 26 to 29, was a collaboration between Fingal County Council, the National Biodiversity Data Centre, and Charlie and Marion Heasman from Sustainable Skerries.

The Mayor of Fingal Cllr. Howard Mahony remarked “It was great to see that over the weekend, The Skerries Wild Bee Festival helped people venture into the world of sustainability through the bees and birds in their own backyards”

Over the weekend, members of the public learned about the Large Carder Bee (Bombus muscorum), a native bumblebee that is in severe decline across Ireland but is thriving in Skerries, as a direct result of the hard-working Skerries Tidy Towns group.

Attendees were taught about pollinators and their positive impact on the native flora and fauna of Ireland through various seminars and nature walks.

Charlie and Marion Heasman, Bee Experts from Sustainable Skerries said: We have been working on a plan to save the large carder bee in Skerries and for this to work we need buy-in from the whole community. The Bee Fest gave us an invaluable opportunity to reach more people locally, but equally importantly it enabled us to connect and engage with both individuals and community groups from the greater Dublin area and beyond.

We would like to take the opportunity to thank Fingal County Council and the National Biodiversity Data Centre for organizing the event and making this goal possible”

Ecologists from the National Biodiversity Centre and members of Fingal County Council, also added to the festival entertaining children and adults alike, by painting bees and butterflies on smiling faces.

Deborah Tiernan, Biodiversity Officer with Fingal County Council, adds:

“The Skerries Wild Bee Festival proved that people truly are passionate about sustainability and their local ecosystem but often feel lost about where to begin. By teaching them skills to nurture biodiversity, we are helping to create long term, positive change for our environment.”

The work of Sustainable Skerries and local Tidy Towns groups for biodiversity is ongoing and supported by Fingal County Council.