merrion street

Brian Hayes TD, Minister of State at the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, with special responsibility for the Office of Public Works (OPW), today re-opened the children’s playground in the John F. Kennedy Arboretum.

Speaking at the playground today the Minister said: “I am delighted to be here this afternoon to re-open this wonderful facility, which replaces the extremely popular playground that was constructed in 1996.”

“With over 100,000 visitors to the JFK Arboretum each year and with the popularity and importance of the playground to those that visit here it was decided last year that it needed to be replaced. Once that decision was taken, tenders were sought from specialist contractors and the contract was awarded to Creative Playground Solutions Ltd, Galway. Work commenced on site in January 2012 and was completed in early March at a cost of €200,000 (incl. VAT),” the Minister said.

The Minister continued: “The new playground has been designed to meet the needs of the many families who use this very popular amenity and when construction was completed all groundwork on the surrounds of the new play area were completed by OPW staff.”

The Minister concluded: “I hope the many thousand of visitors to this wonderful site will get many years of use and hours of enjoyment from this wonderful new facility and I’m told that it has already received praise for its size, design and quality of workmanship.”

Minister Hayes was presented with a bound sketch of their ideas for the playground by children frpm St. Leonard's National School.