Carrigaline has a new mini-park (and the best Sicilian pistachio cannoli)

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Carrigaline has a brand new Community ‘Parklet’.
The brand new green space is furnished with seating for soaking up the odd ray of sun and decorated with planters, offering a new spot for locals to meet up in the town.
“It’s great to see the local community and groups such as the local Tidy Towns group enjoying the space,” said Carrigaline Municipal District Chair Cllr. Aidan Lombard.
“Local initiatives such as this will hopefully encourage people to spend a little longer in town, support local businesses and appreciate what Carrigaline has to offer.”
If you haven’t visited in a while, it’s a great time to plan a spin; there’s a choice of good cafés (the Sicilian pistachio cannoli at Italian coffee roasters Carpe Diem is worth the trip alone – they’re handmade by chef Dario Di Giandomenico from Sicilian Delights on Magazine Road).
Bean & Leaf has set up a new on-street seating area and there’s a skate park and playground to keep kids busy for an hour.
A new parking system has been introduced too in an effort to encourage people to shop locally.
Visitors can enjoy two hours of free parking in the Blue Zone and up to three hours of free parking in the Red Zone. A maximum stay of one hour applies on Main Street and the Lower Kilmoney Road in the Green Zone areas and a Cork County Council traffic warden will be on duty in the town to help advise people of the new system and to tackle illegal parking and obstructions.
A new destination for runners
A purpose-built running track is also opening this month in Carrigaline Park. The 400m track is a 1.2m wide path around the lagoon in Carrigaline Park.
With a black rubber flex surface, the track offers better grip for runners. New seating has also been installed in the park.
You can check out some impressive drone footage of the project here:
Haven’t shared this on Twitter yet but I just want to restate my thanks to local videoographer Sam Fitzgibbon for helping me put this together for Carrigaline under Project ACT. Would appreciate any and all support. https://t.co/rdiUa3hDvv
— Ciaran Dineen, Esq (@CiaranDineen111) August 5, 2020
The issues in the town were identified through Cork County Council’s Project ACT (Activating County Towns) meetings with the local community, business stakeholders and elected representatives.