For Maria Magdelena, the act of planting a seed and watching it thrive is more than just a hobby; it is a necessity. In north Dublin, where the groundwork is currently intensifying at the Raheny allotments, Magdelena finds a sanctuary that her own home garden cannot provide. To her, the unpredictable nature of the soil and the seasons is part of the appeal.
“Gardening is like magic,” she says. “One season, everything works, and another, nothing works.”
Beyond the psychological reward, the practical benefits are immediate. By growing her own vegetables, Magdelena has significantly reduced her reliance on supermarkets. “If you manage to grow what you eat, it will offer you quite a few meals and it will cost you almost nothing,” she explains.
However, the desire for this “magic” has far outstripped the available land. Across Ireland, a growing movement of growers is calling for a significant increase in allotment spaces, warning that the current infrastructure is failing to meet a massive surge in public demand. In some areas, the wait to secure a compact patch of earth has stretched into a decade.
A Decade of Waiting
The situation at the Dublin City Council allotments in Raheny serves as a microcosm for a national crisis in urban agriculture. With over 80 plots on site, every single one is currently occupied. The demand is so overwhelming that the facility has reportedly stopped maintaining a waiting list entirely.
Steve Rawson, the chairperson of the facility, knows the frustration of the queue firsthand. He waited ten years before he finally secured his own plot. “The interest in demand for allotments right across Dublin, but particularly here at the moment, is absolutely massive,” Rawson says, noting that the sites become exceptionally busy during the summer months.
This scarcity is a stark departure from Ireland’s mid-century history. Following the Second World War in the 1940s, the government aggressively expanded allotments to ensure national food security. At that peak, there were approximately 40,000 plots across the country. Today, that number has plummeted to an estimated 2,500.
Comparing the Continental Gap
Campaigners argue that the current deficit is not just a local inconvenience but a policy failure. Dónal McCormack, co-chair of Community Gardens Ireland, points to Denmark as a benchmark for success. Despite having a similar population to Ireland, Denmark maintains approximately 50,000 plots.
McCormack and his colleagues are calling for the provision of 10,000 allotments and community gardens across Ireland by the end of the decade. He argues that these spaces provide a triple benefit: social cohesion, mental health support, and environmental protection.
“They’re beneficial because they’re good for communities. They’re good for people to come together, to break ground together, to grow together,” McCormack says. He also highlights the role of these plots as urban wildlife corridors, noting the presence of birds, foxes, and bat boxes that turn the gardens into sanctuaries for biodiversity.
The Legal Battle for Land
There is a glimmer of legislative progress. Earlier this year, new legislation was enacted that places a formal onus on each of the 31 local authorities to actively plan for allotments. Sector experts have labeled these rules “groundbreaking” because they establish a legal definition for allotments and mandate that councils reserve land specifically for this purpose.
However, a critical gap remains between the law and its implementation. While the Irish Government has passed the legislation, the practical guidelines required to advise councils on how to execute these responsibilities have not yet been published.
McCormack expresses deep frustration over the timeline, stating that government ministers promised these guidelines would be issued by December 2023. “It hasn’t happened,” he says. “What we’ve been told is that they’ll deliver them sometime in the future, but it’s been three years.”
Policy Progress vs. Reality
| Metric | Historical Peak (1940s) | Current Estimate | Campaign Goal (2030) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Number of Plots | ~40,000 | ~2,500 | 10,000 |
| Wait Times | Minimal/Managed | Up to 10 Years | Reduced/Accessible |
| Legal Status | Food Security Mandate | Planning Requirement | Strategic Reservation |
Next Steps for Local Authorities
In response to the delays, the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage has cited the Planning and Development Act 2024. The department states that planning authorities are now required to create strategies for “sustainable places” within their development plans, which explicitly includes the reservation of land for allotments and prescribed community gardens.
The department has maintained that further guidance for local authorities will be progressed “as soon as is practical.” For those currently on waiting lists, this vague timeline offers little immediate relief, though the legal framework now provides a basis for holding local councils accountable for land allocation.
As the growing season begins, the community in Raheny and across Ireland continues to dig in, waiting for the government’s “practical” guidelines to finally match the urgency of the people’s demand for green space.
Do you have a story about your local allotment or a struggle to find gardening space? We invite you to share your experience in the comments below.
