Mayo call to rescind Sligo greenway decision on old railway line

ELECTED representatives in Sligo have been asked to rescind the decision to allow the old railway line between Bellaghy and Collooney to be used as a greenway.

Iarnród Éireann has agreed to facilitate a licence arrangement with Sligo County Council for the 35km section of the former Western Rail Corridor.

However, councillors in Mayo have reaffirmed their commitment to seeing the line reopened in full in their county, including a rail link to Ireland West Airport Knock.

And Taoiseach Micheál Martin was called out for supporting the greenway proposal, a position which Councillor Gerry Murray said had astonished people.

Stressing that he is not anti-greenway, Councillor Damien Ryan told a meeting of Mayo County Council that he didn't want to see critical infrastructure interfered with. He wanted to reaffirm their commitment to preserving the rail corridor in Mayo, welcoming the first phase which is underway between Athenry and Claremorris, with a view to connecting the airport, on to the county boundary, and hopefully on to Sligo.

Sligo and Galway should be connected by rail, he commented, and it should have been done many years ago.

Councillor Ryan made a proposal, calling on national government and all public representatives in Sligo, national and local, to rescind the decision to permit a greenway on the railway line, and asking Iarnród Éireann to support the move, allowing the region to grow and prosper, and to provide that vital link from Galway to Sligo.

It is Mayo's intention, he said, to see the rail line continue from Claremorris to Knock airport and beyond and while they support greenways, they will not tolerate them on their own national infrastructure.

The point was made by Councillor Murray that the Taoiseach had made the decision instructing the rail company to put the greenway back in the middle of the rail line, which astonished people that he wasn't prepared to compromise.

People said the Limerick to Galway rail link would not happen, but it did. It was same about Athenry to Claremorris, and that too has happened, he said, noting how Waterford Port is the main maritime route and the Western Rail Corridor is the main route to it.

Councillor Murray felt this announcement was not going to impede it as what the Taoiseach was advocating would not happen in the lifecycle of a government. And as he had failed in Athenry, he will fail as well on the line going from Charlestown to Sligo, he predicted.

“I have no doubt this decision will be reversed as he is unaware of the momentum coming out of Sligo from the hospital, third-level colleges, the multinationals who want to move their stock down the Western Rail Corridor to Foynes or Waterford Port,” he stated.

Councillor Murray called on the government to immediately reverse this decision if they are serious about balanced regional development.

Vice-chairperson of the Western Inter-County Rail Committee, Councillor Richard Finn reiterated that in Mayo, they are in full support of their section of the railway line to Charlestown. It is in their county development plan and no one will interfere with it, he pledged.

They needed to join up the two main cities in the west of Ireland, said Councillor Finn. If a greenway is wanted in Sligo, let them find it to run side by side with the rail line.

* Funded under the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme