Dublin Galway Greenway

Ireland's latest world-class greenway (Athlone to Mullingar) is on a disused railway line that last saw serious action as a location for a movie starring 007 legend Sean Connery - 1979's The Great Train Robbery.  According to reports in the Irish Independent by journalist Claire Mc Cormack ,  four decades after the collapse of rail services between Mullingar, Moate and Athlone, the historic corridor has been reconnected by a new bicycle track - 40km long and three metres wide .  Next weekend the T aoiseach will be on hand to open t he next phase of the Dublin to Galway cycleway. Enda Kenny will be in Westmeath to open the new 40 km cycleway that will once again connect the midland towns of Athone and Mullingar. Apparently, the new route, which is open already to the public, is already attracting a large interest from local users. According to the reports Barry Kehoe, director of services for transport and economic development at Westmeath County Council, said the pr

According to the Dublin Gazette   the historic Shackleton’s Gardens in Clonsilla could potentially become a major tourist attraction on the Dublin Galway Greenway, There is a plan by Fingal Council to take ownership of Shackleton’s Gardens in Clonsilla in the coming weeks with a €415,000 redevelopment plan to start soon after. The gardens, behind Clonsilla train station and on the banks of the Royal canal, were once ranked among the top four gardens for herbaceous borders in Britain and Ireland. The gardens contain a wide range of rare and exotic plants collected from all over the world by the famous adventurer but in recent years they have fallen into disrepair, It is hope that the gardens will be an important tourist stop along the Royal Canal which is now being upgraded as a greenway linking Dublin to the Shannon and on to Galway.

Our sources closest to the construction of the Mullingar to Athlone cycleway are indicating a mid October offical opening date. As of Friday evening (18th Sep), the base layer was finished to within 4km of Athlone, with the finished layer completed to about a mile of Moate Station. Its a serious job. Some of the bridges are also finished with hand railing. Topsoiling is finished to Castletown. Here's a sneek peek courtesy of a facebook user. "Pretty impressive stuff. Some beautiful bridges and tunnels along the route. Past half way point yesterday. No official..." Posted by Brian Golden

The Galway Cycling Campaign has called on the Minister for Transport, Mr. Paschal Donohoe TD, to reject IFA proposals to put a local section of an international greenway beside the old N6.  Controversy has erupted about the routing of the Galway section of the Eurovelo 2 cycling route.  The route is meant to start in Galway and end in Moscow and much of the mainland sections are already in place. Conflict has arisen between the IFA and the NRA who have proposed to CPO farmers’ land to construct the route.  The cyclists say both sides are at fault with the NRA approach viewed as poorly managed and divisive.  The county council and NRA seem to have ignored standard methods for providing such routes without splitting farms. The cyclists accept that the appointment of the NRA to lead the project has been highly questionable and that the NRA involvement has not been positive.  However, the IFA suggestion of putting a Greenway beside a busy road is equally flawed and would make the count

The latest farmer position on the Greenway through Galway and Roscommon is that the will militantly oppose the Dublin Galway greenway through East Galway. http://galwaybayfm.ie/farmers- petition-galway-dublin- greenway/ Senator Healy Eames is one of the vocal policition on the farmers position and recommends using the N6 for the greenway. http://fidelmahealyeames.ie/ 2015/07/01/healy-eames-asks- minister-to-use-old-n6-as-the- only-apparent-way-to-save- greenway-for-galway/ Meanwhile, minister Donohoe is loosing patience with all the opposition on the Galway side when so many other local communities disparately want funds for greenways. He might withdraw or reallocate the funding for the Connaught leg of the greenway. http://www.shannonside.ie/ news/threat-to-funds-for- athlone-to-galway-cycleway- over-land-disputes/ And Longford council are ceasing the opportunity to get funding to connect the Royal Canal greenway to the Mayo Greenway. http://www.shannonside.ie/

The Dublin Galway greenway blog is happy to provide some early pictures of the soon to be opened Mullingar to Athlone cycle way. The Mullingar/Athlone cycleway is part of the Dublin Galway greenway and follows the route of the disused railway between the two Westmeath towns. This picture was taken just outside Mullingar and while the greenway is not open to the public yet we were able to access the initial 2 kms of the route. We are pleasantly surprised on the high quality of the surface. The surface is equivalent to road surface and is done to an exceptionally high standard. Unfortunately the surface was only completed to Ballinalee. After that point the surface becomes compacted stone. We assume that the entire length of this cycleway will be surfaced with tarmacadam. All indications point to a mid September opening date.

According to reports in the Connacht Tribune , cyclists on the planned Dublin Galway Greenway will be forced onto busy National Roads. In the article ,  Senator Fidelma Healy Eames is calling on the Minister of Transport to seriously consider routing cyclists onto a National Roads. Senator Fidelma Healy Eames says using the old N6 is the only way a greenway can be developed without having a negative impact on productive farmland. Minister Paschal Donohoe is holding meetings this week with farmers affected by the proposed route. Senator Healy Eames is calling on the minister to maximise the use of public lands and make the old N6 safe for cyclists and pedestrians. A final decision on the proposal is to be issued in September.

Minister states greenway on closed western rail route would "fully protect integrity of corridor"   Greenway supporters now look for county councils to listen to Minister and back greenway for the "tourism and business benefits" it will bring   The Western Rail Trail Campaign received an email from Minister of Transport Paschal Donohoe on June 22nd which reinforces previous correspondence from the Minister that his preferred option is for a greenway on the route of the closed railway from Athenry to Sligo in order to protect the ownership of the closed railway route until such time as a railway ever becomes possible.   Brendan Quinn of the Western Rail Trail campaign said "we are in touch with the Minister on a regular basis and this email reconfirms what Minister Donohoe has said on a number of occasions that the Government has no plans to re-open the railway and that a greenway will protect the route, furthermore  this is the first time Mr. Don

In the last few weeks, a number of news stories related to the Dublin Galway Greenway came into prominence. Earlier in the month, we heard from Councillor Tom Farrell on the Shannonside FM news welcoming the significant progress being made on the Athlone to Mullingar section of the Dublin Galway Greenway. Councillor Farrell expressed his views that the opening of new Athlone to Mullingar cycleway will “re-unite Co Westmeath”. In the last week, however, there has been mixed news on the hope of having a speedy resolution to the controversial route options on the Connaught part of the route. The Connaught Tribune reports that TD gives pledge that cycleway won’t go ahead without the support of locals.  In a effort to keep everyone onside we suspect that the route on the Galway side of the greenway may start to slow now as negotiations and concessions commence. But in an interesting development, the Connaught tribune has a story that reports that the Athenry and Sligo greenway grou

Dublin City Council has opened its plans for Royal Canal cycleway for public consultation. The 10 million Euro project, which is part of the Dublin Galway greenway, aims to provide a cycle and pedestrian route from Ashtown to Dublin City along the route of the Royal Canal. The project is being planned in 4 phases with the 1st phase (Guild Street to Sheriff Street Upper) already constructed. The other 3 phases consist of PHASE 2: SHERIFF STREET UPPER , DUBLIN 1 TO NORTH STRAND ROAD, DUBLIN 1 PHASE 3: NORTH STRAND ROAD, DUBLIN 1 TO PHIBSBOROUGH ROAD, DUBLIN 7. PHASE 4: PHIBSBOROUGH ROAD, DUBLIN 7 TO ASHTOWN, DUBLIN 15   In addition, for all 3 Phases of the Scheme the proposed works includes the provision of new public lighting, CCTV, gateways to prevent inappropriate motor vehicle access and other ancillary services along the entire route. An Ecological Report and Built Heritage & Conservation Report has also been provided. Plans for the proposed development may be insp