Stretch of Grand Canal Greenway in Offaly being moved to facilitate farmers

Following a couple of submissions objecting to the location of the Grand Canal Greenway in the Pollagh / Rahan area, the Council said it's listened to the concerns expressed in the submissions and is moving the Greenway to the other bank of the Canal.

The area concerned is from Henesy's Bridge in the townland of Goldsmithslot, Rahan to Plunkett's Bridge in Pollagh.

Director of Services Tom Shanahan told a recent Offaly County Council meeting that there were health and safety concerns around the movement of machinery and livestock up and down the Greenway.

Cllr Tony McCormack said the councillors had discussed the matter a lot and had arrived at a good solution. He pointed out that nearly all the submissions about the Greenway were positive. “I'm delighted that a compromise was reached,” he remarked, “and everyone is now happy.

“The benefits of the Greenway to the local economy can already be seen. A couple of new businesses have opened, including the Thatch pub in Rahan which was closed for many years. It's great to see the pub open again. I have no doubt that we will see more businesses opening.”

Cllr Neil Feighery said the length of Greenway in question is a few kilometres and it will be moving from the south bank of the Canal to the north bank, “and therefore the safety of the Greenway will be enhanced.” Cllr Feighery said there was “an especially large dairy herd in the area and moving the Greenway to the other bank made sense.”