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Turning unused city spaces into thriving farms, with Brian McCarthy

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Brian McCarthy founded innovative urban farming project Cork Rooftop Farm during the first Covid lockdown in March 2020. Situated on a rooftop in Cork city centre, the farm started off as a personal project to grow fruit and vegetables. But Brian started to see the potential for something much bigger and, today, Cork Rooftop Farm is a thriving business and a poster child for how urban farming can play a major role in addressing food security, sustainability, and community health.
GIY are proud to align our mission, vision and impact with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). In response to the urgency of the climate crisis, and in line with the UN Decade of Action, our ambition at GIY is to inspire 100 million people around the world to grow some of their own food by 2030.
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Episode Highlights:
In this episode of Food Matters, Brian shares his inspiring journey from a tech career to becoming one of Ireland’s leading urban farmers. In conversation with Mick Kelly of GIY, Brian talks about the challenges and successes of transforming a rooftop into a farm, the importance of urban agriculture, and its potential to shape the future of food.
Our food system is broken and at GIY we believe that nurturing a real connection to where our food comes from is the key to fixing it.
We're on a mission to inspire a global movement of food growers, one GIYer at a time.
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GIY is a social enterprise consisting of two companies: GIY Ireland CLG (Company No 477525) and GIY Ireland Activities Ltd (Company No 490550), both registered at GROW HQ, Farronshoneen, Dunmore Road, Waterford, Ireland and have the following directors: Eamonn Clarke, Carol Montgomery, Aoibheann O'Brien, Tom Popple (UK), Elias Darwish, Marie Oldham, Nevan Redmond, Laura Smith© GIY Ireland Ltd 2025