Dublin Galway Greenway

According to reports from the Shannonside newsroom , Leitrim county council is seeking funds to develop two new greenway routes that could link with the Dublin Galway Greenway. CEO of Leitrim County Council Frank Curran says the council will apply for seven million euro to construct a cycling track between Manorhamilton to Enniskillen in County Fermanagh along the disused railway track. The council will also look to progress a greenway between Dromod in South Leitrim that will connect to Belturbet in County Cavan. These ambitious projects will help build Leitrim's growing reputation as a outdoor activity destination and fits alongside projects such as the successful Shannon Blueway canoe and walking trails. The success of the Mayo greenway has encouraged more councils to look to build greenways in their own county and when joined together and promoted internationally could attract millions of tourists to parts of Ireland that have traditional been bypassed by tourists. Pla

The Minister for Transport, Pascal O'Donohue, has reiterated the governments commitment to completing the Dublin Galway greenway.  Speaking to the Shannonside newsroom , Minister O'Donohue said that he recognises that there was disappointment in Roscommon, where there was major landowner support, when funding was reallocated to the Kildare and Meath sections. But the minister says that getting full support for the landowners along the route is very important and that the government will continue to seek consensus over the coming years. In October it was announced that funding which had been in place for the final part of the Dublin to Galway cycleway was being diverted to Kildare and Meath, because of difficulties with landowners. From west of the Shannon, the cycleway passes through private farmland, and local farmers are concerned about the potential impacts in terms of loss of land, disruption of farming operations, and security issues. An IFA backed campaig

Kildare County Council have opened a public consultation on their plans for the Royal Canal Greenway Maynooth to Dublin County Boundary. This section will form part of the Dublin Galway Greenway. Planning is already in place for the western section between Maynooth and the Meath border and work is due to start next year. Kildare County Council proposes to construct a 8.4km pedestrian and cycle greenway facility along the Royal Canal towpath from the Canal Harbour, Maynooth to the Kildare/Dublin County border in Allenswood. The proposed development will provide a 3m wide cycleway and shared footway (greenway) for pedestrian and cyclist use with the provision of access controls (pedestrian/cycle friendly gates), road markings and associated signage at various locations over the length of the proposed greenway. A number of bridges along the route will be sensitively considered in the development. Submissions or observations with respect to the proposed development can be made t

Landowners in parts of Connemara, Moycullen, Rosscahill and Oughterard have raised their concerns over the proposed Galway to Oughterard Greenway Route saying that there has been almost no discussion process in connection to the proposed cycleway. The greenway, if built, would permit cyclists to cycle along a devoted cycling way from Galway City to Oughterard, something that local people welcome but are concerned as they say most of it is being directed through private property. Some portion of the greenway would run along a section of old railroad line and landowners said this is currently private property which they legitimately own. The much of the route was formerly the Galway Clifden railway lane which is closed since 1935 and was bought back by the landowners. This demonstrates the need for the state to protect other public rights of ways for future uses rather than letting encroachments into these lands. According to the Galway Independent farmers along the route say 

Tonight's RTE's Ear to the Ground programme will examine both sides of the Dublin Galway Greenway debate. The shows presenters Helen Carroll, Darragh McCullough and Ella McSweeney will talk to farmers and others about the Dublin Galway greenway. In October, funding for the Galway/Roscommon section of the Dublin Galway greenway was diverted to the Kildare and Meath sections of the international standard cycleway. The Kildare and Meath sections already have planning permission in place and are broadly supported by the local communities. Completing the section of cycleway in Kildare and Meath will connect the recently developed cycleways in Westmeath and Longford to the capital and is expected to bring a boom in tourism to the midlands region over the coming years. Already local communities are seeing the benefits of these cycleways and are using them in their droves. There are now calls from local communities in Roscommon for the Minister to reconsider his decision to pau

A fundraiser organised by the Abbeyshrule Tidy Towns on Sunday 22nd November, 2015 was an ideal opportunity to celebrate the opening of the latest extension of the Royal Canal Greenway. The event was the first opportunity to appropriately baptise the route since it was fully completed into Abbeyshrule the week before. Longford County Council funded this extension and the works were carried out by Waterways Ireland. The event was a fundraiser for the Abbeyshrule Tidy Town Group who do great work in the village and are a former National Winner and Entente Florale winner in 2012. The group of about 40 cyclists met at 11 am Sunday morning and headed east to Ballincarrigy and returned. People came from Westmeath and Galway to participate. Everyone was on a high from the cycle. The cyclist finished up in the Rustic Inn, Abbeyshrule for soup and a roll. It is hoped that this will be an annual event from now on. Donall Mac An Bheatha from Longford County Council said the event

Minister Pascal O'Donohue appears to be impressed with Longford Councils forward planning for the extension of the Royal Canal Greenway to Abbeyshrule. In response to a Dail question from Robert Troy, Fianna Fáil TD for Longford/Westmeath, on Blueway and Greenway plans in the county of Longford, the Minister stated that while funding is fully allocated until 2016, Longford is well placed to secure future funding based on their forward planning. The minister said "All Department funding for the delivery of greenways is fully committed up until 2016.  However, the development of a greenway along the Royal Canal from Abbeyshrule to Ballymahon is among those projects to which my Department will give serious consideration in the event of additional funding becoming available. Any funding award would include provision for the installation of signage and direction markers to highlight the existence of and assist users of the greenway. Officials from my Department along with

Over €10 million is to be spent on planning and construction of transport projects in the Dublin City Council area in 2016. Contained within this budget €0.44m is planned to be used for the Royal Canal Cycle Route which is part of the Dublin Galway Greenway. As previously reported on this blog , Dublin City Council have plans to build a cycle path along the Royal Canal in Dublin which will eventually form part of the Dublin to Galway greenway.  The  Dublin City Council  project is to include a cycle and pedestrian route along the Royal Canal from Sheriff Street Upper to Ashtown. The 7.5 km route has been divided into three phases and the work is expected to cost between €10-12 million. Minister o'Donohue announced last month that priority would be given to the Kildare and Meath sections of the Dublin Galway Greenway while consultations continue about a route west of the Shannon. Minister O'Donohue anticipated that work would start next year on that section with the view

Minister Donohue says that the pause on the Galway/Roscommon section will give time for the consideration of a new route that has local support. Responding to Roscommon South Leitrim TD Denis Naughten, Minister Donohoe acknowledged that was large support for the route in Roscommon but also acknowledged that difficulties lay with the Galway section of the route. Now officials will go back to the drawing board on deciding a route west of the Shannon based on strong local consultation. It is likely that the minister will ask the TII to look at all options including land that is in public ownership as called for by Denis Naughten. If you cannot see the audio controls, your browser does not support the audio element Audio file is the property of Shannonside News and simply relinked here.

In reponse to Deputy  Anthony Lawlor 's  question , Minister Pascal Donohue said that he expects  the preparatory work on the Kildare and Meath portions of the greenway will begin in the first half of next year.  Minister Donohue, went on to say that he expects that those new portions of the greenway to be open by the summer of 2017, which will then allow the first half of the greenway to fully open. During the same exchange, Deputy Denis Naughten challenged the minister on his position about the use of public lands for the greenway route west of the Shannon. Deputy Naugthen, who admits that he is probably  the only public representative to say publicly that he wants the greenway between Athlone and Galway to proceed, appears to be favouring a route that would  bring the cycleway from Athlone to Ballinasloe by means of a physical segregation along the existing N6 as far as Aughrim. Details of the Dail record can be accessed here: https://www.kildarestreet.com/deba