Tourism boost as new cycleway to Galway will include Shannonbridge

There was positive tourism news for West Offaly this week, with the announcement that the route of the planned Athlone to Galway cycleway will take in Shannonbridge.

An outline of the route for the long-awaited project was officially announced on Wednesday.

Community representatives in Shannonbridge had called for the village to be included as part of the route, and there was delight locally when it was confirmed that this would be the case.

"It's fantastic that they have decided to bring this national greenway route through our little village in West Offaly," said Vincent D'Arcy of the Shannonbridge Action Group.

"It will link in with all of the other attractions that we have here, and other greenway developments that Offaly County Council are developing.

"Shannonbridge will act as the hub - or the centre - of a number of greenways that are being discussed, and that will bring significant footfall and tourism to the village."

He said Shannonbridge Action Group had the long-term goal of making the area a notable location for tourism, and that it was working on developing a strategy for a 'Destination Shannonbridge' brand.

"We're trying to link all of the attractions that Shannonbridge has to offer, and obviously the greenway is a significant part of that," he commented.

The outline of the route - formally known as the 'emerging preferred route corridor' - begins at Athlone Castle and passes by the Shannon Callows before continuing in a south-westerly direction, along a Bord na Mona railway, to Shannonbridge.

The route will not pass through Ballinasloe, but, just beyond Shannonbridge, a branch or spur will extend from it in order to link the cycleway with the East Galway town.

Clare Claffey, the Social Democrats councillor in the Birr Municipal District, welcomed the route announcement and pointed out that, in addition to Shannonbridge, the cycleway would come in close contact with Offaly at Meelick Weir and would also pass close to Banagher.

"This is a very scenic area with fantastic heritage and I’m so proud of all the local people who worked so hard to make sure that Shannonbridge would be recognised as a major location on the new route," said Cllr Claffey.

"I'm delighted to see the East Galway area included too, with the cycleway passing just over the bridge from Banagher and on to Meelick and Portumna, which again will bring much-needed visitors to Banagher, as well as providing wonderful family friendly cycling infrastructure for the people of West Offaly."

The route corridor was described by the project team as offering "a highly scenic route from Galway to Athlone," with lots to do along the way.

"It travels through a wide variety of landscapes, from the edge of Galway Bay, the Burren Low Lands, the Slieve Aughty mountains, the River Shannon and the Midlands bogs, and will be attractive to domestic and international users.

"It visits Ballyloughane Beach, Oranmore, Rinville, Clarinbridge, Kilcolgan, Kinvara, Coole Park, Gort, Woodford, Portumna, Meelick, Clonfert, Ballinasloe, Shannonbridge and Athlone Castle, linking places of interest, established tourism centres, public parks and outdoor spaces."

The project team said the route corridor was chosen to maximise the use of publicly-owned land where possible, including Bord na Móna lands, Coillte forest roads and ESB lands.

"This emerging preferred route corridor varies in width, being narrow in places where we are proposing to use existing paths, such as Bord na Móna railways and Coillte forest roads, and broader in areas where we will need to use privately-owned land," said Jim Cullen, CEO of Galway County Council.

The Athlone to Galway cycleway, which will be the western half of the national Dublin to Galway route, has been talked about for close to a decade.

Planning for it was ‘paused’ by the Government in 2015, due to opposition from affected landowners, but the process resumed last year.

During a public consultation at the beginning of this year, five route corridor options went out on display. There was a huge response from local communities, with over 10,000 public submissions being made, many of which called for the route to include their locality.

A new round of public consultation has now started in order to finalise the specifics of the cycleway route. Details of the emerging preferred route corridor went on display on the Galway to Athlone cycleway website on Wednesday, and submissions on it are being invited between now and January 31.

The cycleway project team said they would welcome any information from the public and landowners that would help in finalising the route within the chosen route corridor.

"Extensive landowner engagement is underway and will continue in 2022," said the project team, in a statement this week.

"Following this process, a preferred route will be selected, where the project team can be confident that a route can be delivered with the consent and agreement of the majority of landowners.

"The project team is hopeful that they will be able to progress that process during 2022 with a view to bringing an application for planning consent to An Bórd Pleanála in 2023," it said.