From as far away as Japan they have come to help save our Puccin ellia fasciculata. For the past week a team of volunteers from such diverse locations as Bristol, Mauritius and Tokyo has been working on "habitat improvement" in south Dublin's Booterstown marsh.
Recruited by the British National Trust, the eight conservationists are here as part of the first co-operative venture between the trust and the National Heritage Council and An Taisce. Mr John Ducie of An Taisce Dun Laoghaire hopes it will be repeated.
"The National Trust is lending us its expertise in saltwater marsh conservation, and it has a lot of expertise. In the North, the trust owns two-thirds of the coastline, in Wales it owns 40 per cent. It knows all about coastal management."
Booterstown marsh straddles four hectares between Dublin Bay and the main arterial route to south Dublin. The DART line separates the marsh from the sea.
Yesterday it provided something of a sanctuary to two roosting grey herons. Around them paddled teal while snipe fed on what they could find in the Puccinellia fasciculata, or the rare Borrer's saltmarsh grass.
Julian D'Alberti (35), an IT manager from Bristol, has been on several National Trust working holidays. "I've been to Lundy Island in the Bristol Channel, Hadrian's Wall, Snowdonia, but this is the first project in the middle of a city. There's nothing like this in a city in England or Wales."
Like Julian, Yuki Narisawa (23), replied to an ad he had seen in the National Trust newsletter for the Irish project. "Last week I was working near Belfast. I want to study English and I have been travelling all around Europe. I've never worked on a marsh before and it has been very interesting."
The eight volunteers got easily down to digging the ground through, building dams and enlarging the pool areas, as well as general cleaning. They have found the usual rubbish and, curiously, a number of women's handbags.
Paul Silvester from Newcastle described the oil which still coats much of the ground, 14 years after a spillage from fuel tanks at nearby St Vincent's Hospital. He has worked on several NT projects in the countryside. "I think that's what makes this so special, the fact that it's here in the city. It's very precious," he said.
