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// Workers AI · dad joke modeWhat did Ballymun Day say to the next day? You're better.

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Better Ballymun Day
From top to bottom, left to right: Trinity Comprehensive School on Better Ballymun Day 2026, gardening near Musgrave MarketPlace, litter picking in North Ballymun, removing gas canisters, litter picking beside a Sika building, Ballymunners at a food stand at the Seven Heroes Square
Official nameBetter Ballymun Day
Also calledBetter Ballymun Day of Action
Observed byBallymunners
2025 date14 March
2026 date6 March
FrequencyAnnual
First time28 February 2020
Started byTrinity Comprehensive School

Better Ballymun Day, also known as Better Ballymun Day of Action, is an annual social event in Ballymun, Dublin, Ireland. The event has been held annually since February 2020, is led by students from the local secondary school, Trinity Comprehensive, and aims to make Ballymun a better place to live.[1] The event is also supported by Dublin City Council, the Ballymun Tidy Towns group, and several local clubs and businesses.

History

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In 2019, Ballymun placed 40th out of 40 towns and cities surveyed in round 1 of An Taisce's Anti-Litter League,[2] causing a stir locally.[3][4] Following this, Ballymun Tidy Towns said that Ballymun needed to "band together in order to tackle dumping and littering in the area" on Facebook.[5][3] This caused people in Ballymun to engage more in that year's World Cleanup Day, leading to Ballymun moving up to 38th place in round 2 of An Taisce's Anti-Litter League, going from "Litter Blackspot" to "Littered". An Taisce considered this a "much improved result".[4][6][3] This inspired students at Trinity Comprehensive to approach Dublin City Council and Ballymun Tidy Towns in January 2020 about launching a "Ballymun Day of Action".[3][7]

The first Better Ballymun Day was held on 28 February 2020.[3][7] Over 750 people, mainly students, teachers and SNAs participated in planting, painting and litter-picking 36 sites across the suburb.[8] The project was nominated for the IPB Pride of Place Awards 2020 but didn't win.[8] There was no designated Better Ballymun Day in 2021, but projects relating to it continued throughout 2020 and 2021.[9]

The second Better Ballymun Day was held on 3 March 2022 and had over 3,000 participants.[10] The day was launched and attended by the president of Ireland, Michael D. Higgins.[10] As part of it, a community book exchange was started, the rear grounds of Trinity Comprehensive were turned into a garden, and a beehive and chicken coop were constructed in the school.[1]

The third Better Ballymun Day was held on 3 March 2023, coinciding with World Wildlife Day[11] and had over 2,000 participants aiding with over 60 projects.[12][13] The event was launched by former Lord Mayor of Dublin, Caroline Conroy, a past pupil of Trinity Comprehensive.[11] The event was also attended by former Social Democrats leader Róisín Shortall.[12] As part of it, several trees were planted in nearby sports grounds, swift boxes were installed, a clay oven was constructed and several murals were also updated.[10] In An Taisce's 2023 Anti-Litter League survey, where Ballymun placed 30th out of 40 towns and cities surveyed and being considered "Moderately Littered", An Taisce noted that several community initiatives including Better Ballymun Day aided Ballymun's strong performance that year, with notable improvements in areas that were heavily littered in previous years' surveys.[14] The fourth Better Ballymun Day was held on March 15, 2024.[15] Later that year in May, Trinity Comprehensive School won the AIB Future Sparks School Impact Awards 2024 for Better Ballymun Day.[16]

The fifth Better Ballymun Day was held on 14 March 2025.[17][18][19] The sixth Better Ballymun Day was held on 6 March 2025, as part of the UN Year of the Volunteer.[20][21]

The ongoing work of Better Ballymun Day are supported by Dublin City Council, which provides materials and waste removal, the Ballymun Tidy Towns group, and several local clubs and businesses.[21]

See also

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References

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  1. 1 2 O'Donnell, Dimitri (4 March 2022). "Students aim to inspire a 'Better Ballymun'". RTÉ.ie.
  2. ↑ "AnTaisce Report – IBAL Anti-Litter League, Round 1, 2019 Ballymun: 40th out of 40 towns / cities surveyed. Litter Blackspot" (PDF). National Irish Businesses Against Litter, An Taisce. 2019. Retrieved 6 March 2026.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 "A Better Ballymun" (PDF). Firstpost. 12 February 2020. Archived (PDF) from the original on 12 January 2026. Retrieved 6 March 2026.
  4. 1 2 "Ballymun marks World Clean Up Day". Northside People. 9 October 2019. Retrieved 6 March 2026.
  5. ↑ "Community asked to come together as Ballymun named litter blackspot". Dublin Gazette. 10 June 2019. Retrieved 6 March 2026.
  6. ↑ "AnTaisce Report – IBAL Anti-Litter League, Round 2, 2019 Ballymun: 38th out of 40 towns / cities surveyed. Littered" (PDF). National Irish Businesses Against Litter, An Taisce. January 2020. Retrieved 6 March 2026.
  7. 1 2 "BALLYMUN 2020: The Start Of The Revolution! Be inspired, Be proud, Be moved! Get involved!!" (PDF). Ballymun Tidy Towns. May 2021. Retrieved 6 March 2026.
  8. 1 2 "Ballymun TidyTowns - Better Ballymun" (PDF). SuperValu Tidy Towns. June 2020. Retrieved 6 March 2026.
  9. ↑ "Better Ballymun Day". Ballymun Tidy Towns. 21 May 2021. Retrieved 6 March 2026.
  10. 1 2 3 Barret, Sarah (24 February 2023). "Ballymun students hope to inspire people to take pride in their area through 'Better Ballymun Day'". Irish Mirror. Retrieved 6 March 2026.
  11. 1 2 "Green Party Lord Mayor celebrates Better Ballymun on World Wildlife Day". Green Party. 3 March 2023. Retrieved 6 March 2026.
  12. 1 2 Zapryanova, Rayana; Kane, Robbie (3 March 2023). "New Social Democrats leader Holly Cairns has 'big shoes to fill but we'll support her', says Roisin Shortall". DublinLive.ie. Retrieved 6 March 2026.
  13. ↑ Hearst, Elizabeth (3 March 2023). "Ballymun celebrates Better Ballymun Day". FM104. Retrieved 6 March 2026.
  14. ↑ "An Taisce Report – IBAL Anti-Litter League, Survey 1, 2023 Ballymun: 30th out of 40 towns / cities surveyed. Moderately Littered" (PDF). National Irish Businesses Against Litter, An Taisce. June 2023. Retrieved 6 March 2026.
  15. ↑ "2025 Gallery". betterballymun.ie. 15 March 2024. Retrieved 6 March 2026.
  16. ↑ "Ballymun school tops at AIB Future Sparks impact awards". Business Plus. 6 May 2024. Retrieved 6 March 2026.
  17. ↑ Donohue, Amy (10 March 2025). "More than 2,000 locals to join together for annual Better Ballymun Day". Irish Independent. Retrieved 6 March 2026.
  18. ↑ "Better Ballymun Day 2025: A Day of Action and Community Pride". Dublin Gazette. 19 February 2025. Retrieved 6 March 2026.
  19. ↑ "Dublin City Council supports 'Better Ballymun Day' 2025". Dublin City Council. 14 March 2025. Archived from the original on 14 March 2025. Retrieved 6 March 2026.
  20. ↑ "Dublin City Council supports "Better Ballymun" Day of Action 2026". Dublin City Council. 4 March 2026. Retrieved 17 March 2026.
  21. 1 2 Holland, Stephen (4 March 2026). "Student-led 'Better Ballymun Day' returns to bring community together". DublinLive.ie. Retrieved 17 March 2026.
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