Just south of the river Liffey near the huge twin barber poles of the Poolbeg power station, a spur of land juts out into Dublin Bay.

Less than a mile long by a few hundred yards wide, what was once a slag heap of spent coal and cinders from the E.S.B. plant has been transformed over the years into a nature park.

Known locally as Irishtown Hill, its slight elevation seems magnified by the rise and fall of the surrounding sea. The slopes of the hill have been colonized over time by wild flowers and shrubs and in the heart of noisy docklands it has become a little oasis where sea birds and other restless souls can find a haven of peace.

For those who were fortunate enough to explore the hill last Autumn, there was the added delight of discovering a tiny orchard of apple trees laden down with ripe fruit. Against a backdrop of crimson and gold sunsets, the orchard became a miniature Garden of Eden.

Close by, hidden in the grass and overgrown with brambles, lay the secret of its origin: a stone plaque bearing the inscription ‘Planted in memory of Chico Mendes 1989’.

The little coppice on the mound of ash and cinders is a fitting, if somewhat ironic, memorial to a man who was murdered in 1988. Chico Mendes, pictured above, was murdered because he opposed the burning of the Brazilian rainforests by unscrupulous cattle ranchers and mining companies.

The rainforests cover less than two per cent of the Earth’s surface and yet they are home to over half the animal and plant species on the planet.

Chico Mendes (above) led a non-violent protest against those who would rob future generations of their heritage and paid the price with his life.

On our tiny planet where the web of life is as fragile as gossamer, the burning of the Amazon forests impacts on every living thing.

By his sacrifice Chico Mendes lit the spark of resistance to avarice and greed and the apples that grow on Irishtown hill taste all the sweeter in his memory.