Garden Show Ireland could be axed after council spent £50k on brand and appointed celebrity 'ambassadors'

SDLP Antrim Town Councillor Roisin Lynch has thanked council officers for their work on a potential replacement for Garden Show Ireland.

The event at Antrim Castle Gardens could be scrapped after two successive years of bad weather saw attendance plunge by 53%.

At the Community Development Committee last week, she said: “The change to a summer festival is a very good idea after disappointing turnouts to Garden Show Ireland which we and the officers can do nothing about.

“There is so much work going into creating gold star events and I am pleased that we are taking another look at providing events which appeal to everyone, and I thank officers for their work.”

Just over a year ago, Councillor Lynch suggested that the writing may have been on the wall for the event.

She described the 2024 visitor figures for Garden Show Ireland as ‘disappointing’ suggesting that it may have ‘run its course’.

She added: “The Sixmile Festival did not get the numbers I would have liked to have seen.”

Speaking after the meeting of the Community Development Committee last week, the Antrim Town rep said: “After two years of heavy rain affecting Garden Show Ireland, I think this is the right time to take a fresh approach.

“The new Borough Summer Festival will build on everything people love about the Garden Show Ireland the creativity, community spirit, and celebration of our beautiful surroundings but with a wider mix of events that appeal to more people and are less dependent on the weather.

“By hosting a series of fantastic events under cover in Antrim Castle Gardens from a Home and Garden Show to music nights, comedy, and local food and drink we can make sure there’s something for everyone to enjoy. And it’s all being delivered within the same budget, which means great value for ratepayers.

“Importantly, this new approach means the gardens themselves will remain open to the public throughout the festival, so residents who use Antrim Castle Gardens daily for walking, running, and wellbeing can continue to enjoy the space without the level of disruption that came with Garden Show Ireland.

“This is about keeping the energy and heart of Garden Show Ireland alive, while creating a summer festival that truly reflects the best of our borough lively, inclusive, and full of local pride.”

A report before the meeting said: “The 2025 Garden Show Ireland introduced a new Show Ambassador – renowned horticulturist and celebrity TV gardener David Domoney. David formally launched this year’s Garden Show at a special event at the Old Courthouse Theatre on the evening of 3 April, mentored 40 community groups who competed to design a wheelbarrow garden for the show, and delivered a stunning Garden in Glass exhibition at the show.

“For the second consecutive year heavy rain throughout the 3-day event depleted audience numbers, which were down 53% compared to 2023 because of the weather.”

The report added: “To reduce risk, increase attendance and deliver the best possible value for money, it is proposed that a three-week Borough Summer Festival is trialled in place of Garden Show Ireland in June/July 2026.

“This festival, which would be largely undercover in a giant marquee in Antrim Castle Gardens, would be made up of a wide variety of events and entertainment, including a Home and Garden Show, a Beer Festival, a Photography Festival, an Over-30s Disco, concerts and comedy nights.

“Through economies of scale related to event infrastructure, this entire festival would be delivered for the same budget as Garden Show Ireland.

“Following feedback from members, the gardens will remain open to the public throughout the festival period with the exception of the Events Field, car park and Parterre.”

The decision is yet to be ratified at a full monthly meeting of the council.

Back in 2019, Garden Show Ireland officially came under the banner of Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Council after members backed a proposal to buy the ‘brand’ for £50,000.

The show was first held in Antrim Castle Gardens in 2014, and was staged annually until 2018, when the organisers were forced to pull the plug as costs and numbers spiralled out of their control.

They approached the council with a proposal to revive the event for 2020 and beyond, suggesting that the show could return as a council-owned and operated flagship event with the potential to deliver ‘significant economic and tourism benefits’.

Garden Show Ireland offered the council the opportunity to purchase the GSI brand for a one-off payment of £50,000 which it was said could be capitalised over ten years at an annual cost of £5,000.

They promised the council help to deliver the 2020 event, with council taking an overall lead in most of the organisation.

However, Antrim and Newtownabbey Council retained all ticket income from the show and all sponsorship money.

At the time, it was said: “With average show attendances of 25,000, a conservative estimate of ticket net income is £160,000 based on 20,000 attendances and an unchanged admission of £10 per person.

“The anticipated net cost to the council for this arrangement is £35,000, which is the previously agreed budget for support of the show in 2019 and 2020.”

The council’s financial support rose from an initial annual contribution of £5,000 in 2014 to £25,000 in 2016, and a further increase to £35,000 approved for the show in 2019 and 2020.

From 2014, the show saw numbers increase from just under 20,000 to a peak of 29,000 in 2017. Over a five-year period of the show being held in Antrim Castle Gardens, average attendances were approximately 25,000.

A large proportion of visitors came from outside of the borough, as well as from outside of Northern Ireland.

Specialist traders and exhibitors also participated in the event from all over the UK and the Republic.

Tourism Northern Ireland placed a value of £18 per day on a day visit to an area.

Using this value, council officers estimated that the economic impact of the event over the past five years is £2.25m or £450,000 annually.

A post-show evaluation in 2018 revealed £5.8m in media opportunities, many with international reach.

However, the Covid pandemic then struck and the show did not return for until 2021, when it was combined with two other events, and finally returned as a standalone show in April 2022, before being moved to June the following year.

The Show is also a key component of the council’s ‘Botanical Borough’ branding.

Only in late 2024, was a new ‘ambassador’ appointed for Garden Show Ireland’ in the shape of TV presenter and plant expert David Domoney.

He gave a talk in the Old Courthouse theatre and hosted a number of presentations at the 2025 event.

After the proposals to replace the show, his present role is now unknown.

Previous ambassador Diarmuid Gavin and linked companies were paid more than £1.7 million by Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Council, largely for projects to celebrate Queen Elizabeth's jubilee and the King’s coronation.

Payments were made to design and construct the Coronation Garden in Hazelbank Park and the Platinum Jubilee in Antrim Castle Gardens.

Mr Gavin also received fees for his ambassador role with Garden Show Ireland from 2022 to 2024.

Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Council had previously refused to disclose how much they were paying Mr Gavin for his work when asked by the Antrim Guardian, citing ‘commercial sensitivity’, despite the fact that the work was exclusively awarded to him and no tender process took place.

Last year, council said: “£1,711,825 + VAT has been paid to Diarmuid Gavin or companies with which he is affiliated over the last five years.”

In a statement, the council said it ‘appointed garden designer and construction project manager Diarmuid Gavin to work on a number of projects’.

“The payment of £1.7m includes the design and construction (labour and materials) of both the Platinum Jubilee Garden in Antrim Castle Gardens and the Coronation Garden in Hazelbank Park,” a spokesperson said.

“This includes costs for contractors and sub-contractors employed by Mr Gavin to deliver these projects.

“The costs are inclusive of all design, project management, labour and materials associated with the build and landscaping works, plus the supply and planting of specialist plants and trees.”

There were also costs associated with ‘site preparation and the removal and relocation of the existing garden, mechanical works, electrical gates for both sites, and operational support during and after the construction of both gardens’.

Back in 2022 the Guardian revealed how council applied for retrospective planning permission for the Platinum Jubilee Garden, months after it initially maintained that planning permission was not needed.

When council originally agreed to proceed with the proposal at the end of January 2022, the countdown to the Platinum Jubilee in June commenced - leaving an interim period of just four months to allow for the preparation, consultation, assessment and approval of a planning application.

In February of that year, a spokesperson for Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Council said: “Planning permission isn’t required for this form of landscaping.”

But that August, a retrospective application was lodged and in 2023 it was agreed that the structure would be retained for five years.

A design statement submitted with the application stated that ‘the purpose of the development is to give a permanent home to the former Chelsea Flower Show folly garden’.

Promotional information published by the council stated, ‘this garden, the only one of its kind in the UK has ‘Dancing Trees for the Jubilee’ where the trees dance every 15 minutes, will be a lasting legacy to Her Majesty the Queen’.

The garden has become a focal point for civic ceremonies and photo shoots and played a role in the council’s official events to mark the death of the Monarch in 2022.

The Coronation Garden, opened by King Charles and Queen Camilla at Hazelbankin May 2023.

At its opening, the council described the structure as ‘magnificent....boasting bubbles, spinning trees, music and a Strictly-style glitter ball’.

In 2022, the Antrim Guardian revealed how a Freedom of Information Request was submitted by a former council employee, asking a number of questions about Antrim’s Clockwork Garden, designed by Mr Gavin, who was secured by council to come up with a project to mark the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee.

Also requested was confirmation of all project costs including a summary breakdown.

However the response redacted all costs, saying that it may prejudice commercial interests, even though the process involved a direct award procurement process to one person or company for a project which is unlikely to be repeated.

In its response, the council said that the decision to press ahead with the garden was made on January 31 2022.

A redacted copy of the minutes from that meeting, with costs removed, and an artist’s impression of the project, were enclosed.

Council confirmed that no statutory bodies were consulted prior to making the decision.

The response said that the ‘advice’ of the Planning Section was sought in February 2022.

It went on to say: “Engagement with Historic Environment Division (Buildings) Section of Dept for Communities has been carried out.

“This has included a number of site visits to the Castle Gardens by officials. On April 29 HED confirmed that listed building consent was not required.”

This means that work was being carried out on the site ‘at risk’ for almost two months.

In terms of alternative sites, the response read: “Given the historical nature of the Castle Gardens the event field (and former car park) was considered as the only suitable location for the Clockwork Garden with particular consideration being given to the proximity of listed buildings at Clotworthy House.”

No mention was made of other locations outside of the castle grounds.