A petition for a Greenway on the closed railway from Athenry in Galway to Collooney in Sligo will be discussed by Oireachtas Committee this Thursday (October 19th)
The Western Rail Trail campaign that wants the route of the closed railway from Athenry to Sligo used as a greenway until such time as a railway might be possible, will present a petition with over 26,000 signatures to the Oireachtas Petitions Committee.
Brendan Quinn spokesperson for the campaign says they submitted the petition signed by over 26,000 people in July of this year and they have been notified the petition will be discussed by the Joint Committee on Petitions this Thursday.
Mr Quinn says the campaign group will issue a statement to all of those who have signed the petition explaining the outcome and advising themon the reception their ideas receive from the committee members.
The government has published intentions to potentially re-open the closed railway from Athenry to Claremorris in the strategic railway review. This is welcome news, he says, but there is no timeframe on when this might happen, in fact the railway is unlikely to be re-opened for many years to come. “The old rusting tracks are meaningless they will have to be ripped up and replaced and a lot of engineering work done on the line to restore the closed railway, so why not have a greenway now”.
The Strategic Rail review indicates that the closed railway north of Claremorris through Mayo and Sligo as far as Collooney is no longer planned to be a railway again at any time in the future.
Mr Quinn insists now is the time to fully protect this route in public ownership with the East Mayo Greenway from Claremorris to Charlestown in county Mayo and the Sligo Greenway from Charlestown to Collooney in County Sligo.
