Plan to seek funding for creation of bog trails in Lower Ormond

Tipperary County Council is going to apply for funding to create Bog Trails in Lower Ormond.

During a recent meeting, a number of Councillors said they were very disappointed that Lower Ormond doesn't currently feature in a proposed project to spend €30 million on developing adventure trails through the bogs of the midlands.

At the May meeting of Tipperary County Council, a proposal was adopted to contact Tourism Minister Catherine Martin to include bogs in the region of such towns and villages as Borrisokane, Lorrha, Cloughjordan and Rathcabbin in the adventure trail project. 

The Tipperary County Council executive feels there is a good chance that bogs in Lower Ormond could also benefit from the funding as the area is geographically close to other bogs in nearby counties that were going to get funding under the plan. It also has some significant bogland of its own.

Cllrs Ger Darcy and Michael O’ Meara welcomed this plan to contact Minister Martin. Cllr O'Meara pointed out that communities in his area have suffered badly due to the move away from peat harvesting.

Cllr Darcy said many people in Lower Ormond were working in the turf and bog sector and had suffered due to the wind down of peat harvesting in recent years.

“People from my area would like to see some money coming to our communities from the package because communities in our area have experienced huge losses due to the decline of the peat sector,” he said.

Cllr O’ Meara said the Shannon Callows should be included in the plan. He said large numbers of people from Lorrha and Rathcabbin had worked in the peat sector until its phasing out. "Lower Ormond could really benefit from the development of trails and greenways," he remarked.

The plan is to tie in the adventure trails through bogs with villages and towns along the proposed routes; to develop a number of trails “of significant scale”.