“The west needs to wake up before their thunder is stolen,” says John Mulligan, who is one of a number of people who are interested in creating a national network of cycling and walking trails.
Speaking to the Mayo Advertiser, Mr Mulligan said that because of the inaction of the Government in developing such a network, that thousands of jobs and business opportunities are being missed. “If the routes were developed it could bring 5,000 jobs.”
Mr Mulligan is part of a hill-walking fraternity who go abroad as there are not enough long distance routes in Ireland, which if created would encourage people to visit. Mr Mulligan said that The Great Western Greenway is a “superb local attraction for half a day cycling” but would only attract more tourists if it was connected to national links. “There is a huge gap” in this industry and he said that unless the west wakes up and develops more trails other locations in Ireland will do it and steal the west’s thunder.
According to Mr Mulligan, politicians seem to favour West on Track rather than developing this idea. He said that West on Track’s “aspirations are very noble”, but “realistically we all know that the train is not coming”, therefore the train tracks should be used for a greenway.
Mr Mulligan highlighted a recent Mayo County Community Forum survey carried out for the Community Futures Action Planning initiative. This showed that the majority of residents in Swinford favoured the disused Claremorris-Collooney line being used as a greenway. Mr Mulligan also said: “The other key point about the route from Claremorris to Collooney is that it should be used to carry a high-speed broadband cable to give city-style broadband to the towns and villages along the route, allowing for high-tech industries to locate in these towns.”
A website which is a platform for these groups’ views is www.sensiblegovernment.com
