Mary, Mary, with nails like that how DOES your garden grow?
Cabinet golden girl gets to grips with her new Enterprise brief by attending Bloom in Dublin’s Phoenix Park
THE crowds were out in force in the Phoenix Park yesterday to celebrate the tenth year of Bloom – but while the innovative gardens and flowers impressed eager visitors, it was a different kind of sparkle in the sun which caught many an eye: Mary Mitchell O’Connor’s glittering gold fingernails.
The newly appointed Minister of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation has always been known for her glamorous appearance, but yesterday she paired her smart blackand-white ensemble with perfectly manicured, gold-lacquered nails which beautifully offset her gold watch.
For a festival that’s all about getting one’s hands dirty, there wasn’t a speck or a smudge on the mother of two – who admitted that she’s not much into gardening herself.
But that’s not to say that Ms Mitchell O’Connor is not committed to her new brief of job creation: the erstwhile schoolteacher explained that her nails had been manicured by a self-starter former student.
‘A past pupil – a young entrepreneur – did my nails for me,’ she said. ‘I like to support her business. And actually she is expanding her business and she will be employing four people.’
She said she enjoyed her day out in Phoenix Park, which is expected to host 100,000 visitors during the five-day event.
‘I thought it was absolutely fabulous, with the sun shining,’ she said. ‘I love a beautiful garden, but I learned loads today. I met loads of young women entrepreneurs, I tasted lovely Irish food.
‘My focus really is on ensuring that jobs are created in this sector. An Bord Bia showed me around, showed me all the hidden, wonderful things that are happening.’
She was particularly impressed with Sofi Dosa who, at 21, was the youngest 2016 Bloomer to make the final 23 Show Gardens. She was awarded a silver medal for her ‘Blurred Lines’ creation in the Medium Garden category.
Sofi – who was born in Hungary and moved to Ireland with her family at the age of 13 – told the Mail how just one year ago, she was working in a bank and didn’t even own a pair of gardening gloves.
But this daughter of a landscaper father and artist mother clearly had garden design in her blood, and thousands of visitors are enjoying her Irish meadow creation that includes everything from a trickling water feature to a field maple tree to bell-like foxgloves.
Bloom has doubled in size since its inception in 2007, celebrating everything from horticulture and gardening to food, craft and family entertainment.
Bord Bia announced the winners on Thursday, with Dubliner Alan Rudden picking up the award for the Overall Large Garden in his Chilean-inspired ‘Santa Rita Living la Vida 120 Garden.’
Another featured participant was garden designer Alexandra Hollingsworth, who was the winner of Super Garden on RTÉ. Her garden design, Glasnevin to Granada, combined Victorian and Moroccan design for a young couple living in Glasnevin in Dublin.
Bloom’s main style event takes place today, when men, women and children are invited to take a selfie on the Solus yellow carpet and upload it to Facebook.
One enthusiastic visitor yesterday was Sophie Teyssier, 25, from Dunboyne, Co. Meath – who, as a blogger and freelance designer, truly appreciated the innovative flare that is the hallmark of Bloom.
‘I really had a blast,’ she said. ‘I suppose you could say I had an absolute ball, because I really did. I loved all the food stalls, the designer flower sections – they were just unbelievable. ‘My boyfriend and I went together and we were so impressed, because we both went to NCAD. We’re creative types too.’ The woman behind thefashionseashell.com said she has attended Bloom for years – along with many friends and family – and has seen the numbers swell as the festival’s popularity increases. ‘There’s a lot of people, I noticed that today,’ she said last night. ‘It’s probably because it’s so sunny. It was ideal.’
‘A past pupil did my manicure’ ‘I met loads of women entrepreneurs today’