It was a weekend to remember for the Gort River Walk Development Group — Not only did they host the official opening of their beautiful 3km looped trail, but they also scooped a national honour in the Tidy Towns competition.
The Gort River Walk, a 3km looped trail has recently opened from Gort town centre. The trail starts in the town centre and follows the river north out of the town and alongside an old farm road. After 1.3km the trail crosses the river over a new curved footbridge. The trail then continues along an old Kinincha trail to where it meets the public Kinincha road that leads back to the town centre.
The first part of the trail was opened by Deputy Sean Canney and the new footbridge was opened by Deputy Ciaran Cannon. Also attending were local councillors Joe Byrne, PJ Murphy, Geraldine Donohue and Gerry Finnerty. Various other representatives were in attendance from bodies such as Galway Rural Development, Galway County council (ORIS ), etc and many of the design and development crew – Brent Mostert, John Britton Structural Engineer, John Fordham from JF Construction, members from FAS (Pat Finn and Sylvie Linnane ) and Brendan Slevin (Engineer ).
The ceremony started with the opening of the initial phase of the Gort River Walk Project and then the participants walked 1.3km to the footbridge where it was officially opened by landowners Francis Cahill and Vivian Diviney with Ciaran Cannon TD.
The development is the result of four years of work driven by the Gort River Walk development group, and supported strongly be the local community, Galway County Council and Galway Rural Development.
The group received funding from the local community, the Outdoor Recreational Infrastructure Scheme (ORIS ) and Active Travel. The initial section of trail was challenging to open as it went through an illegal dumping site and there was no defined path.
The volunteers carved their way through briar and scrub until they had a rough trail. After this grant funding was received to upgrade it to a chipped path.
The first section of trail path was completed during the Covid-19 Pandemic and resulted in many people in the local community participating in its construction. Planning permission was applied for and granted for a new footbridge. The bridge was designed by local architect Brent Mostert, the detailed design done by John Britton, Kinvara, manufactured by Ryan Structural Steel Westport. The bridge construction/installation was completed by John Fordham, Kilbeacanty and overseen by Brendan Slevin, Gort.
The Gort River Walk Development group and volunteers consist of David Murray, Karen O’ Neill, Sally Smith, and Ciaran O’ Donnell, Kieran Reynolds, Stefano Solpensa, Shona MacGivillray, Dympna Lawless, Patrick McLoughlin, Sharon McGriksin, Hugo Smith, Nadin Reichel, Rachel McMullen, Erin Dolan, Gabriella Bolster, Sean O’Neill, Bernie Keenan, Annette Kelly, Padraig Sheridan and newer volunteers including Nico Lescar, Jim Ricks, Joan Ryan, Macdara O’ Cuig and Don Deacy -And many others how have offered their time.
The group is always looking for more support for this great amenity and people can visit the Gort River Walk Website to sign up.
On the same day as the official opening, the group scooped a national Tidy Towns special award for ‘Communities and Water’ – the judges stated “The group’s positivity and enthusiasm for their local environment was evident in their application which made them stand out winners for 2022. Their application told the story of how they developed a river walkway and nature trail close to the town centre which had been blighted by illegal dumping and overgrazing.
“The group engaged with landowners, members of the local community,and the County Council in the development of the walkway and nature trail. They hosted public meetings and events such as biodiversity walks during Heritage Week, photography, and art competitions. They worked hard to enhance local wildlife and nature by removing rubbish and invasive species and by planting native trees and wildflowers. This group of local volunteers are an inspiration for what can be achieved by a local community.”
“It’s really fantastic to be the recipient of this national award”, said David Murray, chair of the Gort River Walk Development Group. “It’s a great acknowledgement of our community-based approach, our biodiversity focus and also the great work of incredible volunteers and broader community support. We simply would not have have achieved our river walk without the commitment and drive of our volunteers,” said Mr Murray.
The group has plans to maintain and enhance the loop and is looking for more funds to secure the future of this wonderful amenity.
