Politicians asked to support a pilgrim route through Offaly

A Greenway group in the midlands, calling itself the Athlone Clonmacnoise Shannonbridge Pilgrim Route Greenway Group, met with a number of politicians in Shannonbridge on Friday morning and asked them for support for their proposed project.
Flan Barnwell and Paul Mulvey told The Midland Tribune that they are a voluntary group which was formed a few years ago to promote the provision of a Greenway between Athlone and Clonmacnoise and Shannonbridge.
Cycling clubs and walking clubs in Westmeath, Offaly and Roscommon constitute a significant segment of the group and in addition, individual members, some with business interests in tourism and outdoor activities, are also involved.
In the past five years they have met with Offaly and Westmeath County Councils.
“Offaly’s record in this area is exemplary and they have been most helpful,” commented Flan.
Offaly County Council have been successful in their application for a grant from the Carbon Fund to employ consultants to undertake a feasibility study to include an Athlone to Clonmacnoise to Shannonbridge Greenway. The contract for the study is signed and work will commence very shortly. “This study will include a public consultation process into which we intend to have a significant input,” said Flan.
Failte Ireland and Waterways Ireland have this greenway listed as a priority project in their Tourism Masterplan for the Mid Shannon Region.
“If the Business Sector in Athlone joined with us in support for this project,” added Flan, “it would significantly enhance and strengthen the level of influence regarding the outcome of the feasibility study and the resultant Government and Local Authority decisions.”
The feasibility study would examine the best route possible for the Greenway route. On Friday, Flan and his fellow group members briefed a number of public representatives on the project including Peter Burke, Minister of State for Local Government, Cllr. John Dolan, Athlone Municipal Area, Pippa Hackett, Minister of State for Land Use and Biodiversity, Anne Rabbitte, Minister of State for Disability, and Robert Troy, Minister of State for Trade Promotion. The group said the route would go via the de-commissioned bogs in Westmeath and Offaly, and will provide a safe cycling and walking alternative route avoiding the main road (N62) to Ballinahowen and onwards via Clonmacnoise to Shannonbridge. “It is accepted,” said Flan, “that this road is unsafe for cycling and walking with Clonmacnoise visitor numbers up to 170k per year and large tourist buses being the main mode of transport.”
Phase (1) of the proposal is to provide a Greenway route from Clonbonny to the River Boor (close to the Offaly border) so as to access the back roads through Clonascra, Ballyduff and Bloomhill. This route is approximately 2km.
Phase (2) of the proposal is to provide a narrow gauge rail service utilising the existing Bord na Mona industrial rail track which runs between Athlone, Clonmacnoise and Shannonbridge. This is not an original idea as the Clonmacnoise and West Offaly Railway Company ran a narrow gauge rail tour through the Blackwater bog for some 20 years from 1990. This was a very successful operation and attracted hundreds of thousands of visitors.
In the preparation of this proposal the group stated that they had discussions with Waterways Ireland, Offaly and Westmeath Co. Councils, Senior Bord na Móna Management and cycling and walking groups throughout the Midlands.
The presentation on Friday included a video showing many of the heritage sites in the region such as Clonfert Monastic site, Meelick Weir, the Ancient Church in Meelick, Clonmacnoise, Lough Boora, Shannonbridge Power Station, Bord na Mona bridges over the Shannon and Suck, the Bord na Mona rail network in the region and many of the vintage bog machines.
“Our proposal,” continued Flan, “was drawn up in line with the Report to Government by the Just Transition Commissioner, Kieran Mulvey who presented his Just Transition report to the Government in April 2020, and it was accepted by them. “In his report he emphasised that for his recommendations to be successfully implemented they would require buy-in from Central and Local Govt., Government Departments, and key stakeholder groups.”
The group engaged in a detailed discussion regarding Offaly Co. Council’s grant of €90K which they received from the Carbon Fund to finance the Feasibility Study on connectivity between Athlone, Clonmacnoise and Shannonbridge. It was emphasised that this proposal is in line with the Failte Ireland and Waterways Ireland Tourism Masterplan for the Mid Shannon Region.
A very positive discussion took place with each public representative on all aspects of the proposal and the Group asked that on completion of the Feasibility Study by Offaly Co. Council, that the public representatives would advocate for the necessary resources to be put in place to ensure early completion of the project. 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.
Flan pointed out that road access to Clonmacnoise carrying most of the tourist traffic is “totally inadequate. There are many places along this road where it is not possible for two cars to pass without one having to pull in to allow the other to pass. When it comes to large European or Bus Eireann tour buses, it is an even more challenging story. There is also a significant volume of agricultural traffic on this road. Road upgrading options are very limited due to restrictions on habitat protection and the important sand eskers on which the road is built.”
He said the Bord na Móna narrow gauge industrial railway track is on a raised embankment and runs from Athlone to Shannonbridge, very close to Clonmacnoise.
“As Bord na Móna are about to cease peat harvesting, this track could be used at little expense to provide a narrow gauge tourist train, thus taking some pressure off the public road.” He said a possible option would be to create a walking path beside the tourist train, as currently happens on the very successful Greenway in Waterford (which is enormously popular with families).
Bord na Móna ran a very successful tourist train in this area until 2008. It closed due to heavy rail traffic requirements for peat transport to the power station.
There are a number of narrow gauge tourist trains throughout Ireland and a recent programme on RTE1 showed a very successful tourist train service in the Waterford - Dungarvan area.
“Offaly County Council is planning to build a Greenway connecting Clonmacnoise to Lough Boora Discovery Park. Our proposed route could intersect with this route and could create a Greenway network between Athlone and Lough Boora Discovery Park.
“In Shannonbridge a local action group was successful in their application to the Just Transition Fund for a variety of projects with a strong emphasis on attracting visitors to the area. The greenway and railway proposal would be of significant benefit to Athlone and West Offaly.
“Mongan Bog, situated between Clonmacnoise and Shannonbridge is recognised as one of the most important raised bogs in the entire world. The flora and fauna is extremely rare and well preserved. The rail track goes through this Bog.”