Council insists it's fully behind Athlone to Clonmacnoise Greenway

A Westmeath County Council official insisted that the local authority is fully behind proposals to develop a 'Pilgrim Route' Greenway from Athlone to Clonmacnoise, saying any perception that it was not supportive of the project was incorrect.

Council Director of Services Barry Kehoe was responding to comments from Cllr Aengus O'Rourke when the project came up for discussion during this month's meeting of the Athlone Moate Municipal District.

Cllr O'Rourke said the Greenway proposal "ticks all the boxes" and that it had been "crying out for development" for some time now.

"Given all of the funding for Greenway projects, it surprises me that this hasn't already attracted the kind of funding needed to make it happen," he said.

"Let's throw our cards on the table: I think the opinion out there would be that there's some resistance to this on the Westmeath side.

"Maybe we can clear the air today and reassure people that there is - I hope - no resistance to this project from Westmeath."

He was speaking on a motion tabled by Cllr John Dolan, who pointed out that a voluntary group which came together to seek support for an Athlone Clonmacnoise Shannonbridge Pilgrim Route Greenway had been seeking to advance the project for "quite a while" now.

In response, Westmeath County Council said it had been working with Offaly County Council on a feasibility study in relation to the Greenway, and this was expected to be completed before the end of this year.

"First of all, we're 100% supportive of any Greenway proposal between Athlone and Clonmacnoise, and always have been. Let there be no doubt about that," Mr Kehoe told the meeting.

He said that, until recently, Bord na Móna had been continuing to harvest peat south of Athlone, but the ending of peat harvesting meant there was now "an opportunity in terms of cooperating with Bord na Móna to get a (Greenway) corridor that might not have been available a couple of years ago".

Mr Kehoe said Offaly County Council had been leading the project, as most of the Greenway would be in county Offaly, but its work was being supported by Westmeath.

One potential challenge which he spoke about was the absence of "a ready-made corridor" for cyclists from Athlone town to Clonbonny.

"There is the road that goes out through Golden Island and down Carrickobrien and on then to Clonbonny, but it's a very narrow road and there are quite a few houses down there," said Mr Kehoe.

"There's traffic on it and mixing that traffic with families of cyclists is not great on a road that's so narrow. That's something the feasibility study will seek to address.

"The Greenways that we've developed to date have largely been along publicly-owned corridors, as opposed to where we acquire private land. Those (public) ones are easier to develop, because it's not easy to get your hands on land for projects like this.

"They are the reasons for the delay with the Greenway, and why it hasn't been completed to date."

Mr Kehoe concluded by saying consultants had been appointed to work on the feasibility study, and he advised councillors to await its findings.

"Let's see what comes out of that feasibility study. I would expect that it will identify an opportunity that can then be developed further and put forward for funding."

Meanwhile, representatives of the voluntary group set up in support of Athlone Clonmacnoise Shannonbridge Pilgrim Route Greenway have recently briefed a number of Government politicians, including Ministers of State Peter Burke, Robert Troy, Anne Rabbitte and Pippa Hackett, in relation to the project.

The group has also received support from representatives of Athlone Chamber of Commerce and the Destination Athlone project.

It said the Greenway could provide a safe alternative route to Clonmacnoise that would avoid the main N62 road towards Ballinahown, which was not suitable for pedestrians and cyclists.

"The development of this greenway has captured the imagination of the public at large and is an appropriate response from the Midlands to the groundswell of interest in such outdoor activities," said the group in a statement last week.

It's hoping to see the first phase of the project run for 2km from Clonbonny to the River Boor, close to the Offaly border.

The group is also campaigning for a narrow-gauge rail service utilising the existing Bord na Móna industrial rail track between Athlone, Clonmacnoise and Shannonbridge.

Previously, the Clonmacnoise and West Offaly Railway Company successfully ran a narrow-gauge rail tour through the Blackwater bog for around 20 years from 1990.

However, at the Athlone-Moate District meeting this month, Mr Kehoe said the feasibility study was focusing on the Greenway, rather than the light rail proposal, which he felt would "not be feasible due to capital and operational costs."