Anton McNulty
Former World athlete champion, Senator Eamon Coghlan is working with officials in the Department of Sport and Tourism to stage events along the Greenway according to Minister of State, Michael Ring.
The Minister of State in the Department of Sport and Tourism was speaking at the official opening of the Great Western Greenway in Westport House last Friday. He said the Greenway was a fantastic amenity and he had been in discussions with Eamon Coghlan about staging events on it next year.
“We will have events over the next year or so and I had Eamon Coghlan down recently and he’s putting a plan together for me. He is putting a plan in place for next April or May where there will be a big event in Westport with competitors in cycling and walking and there will be many of these events over the years,” he said.
The Greenway has become one of the major tourist attractions in Mayo and will only get bigger according to Travis Zeray, of Clew Bay Bike Hire. Since opening in 2010, he has shops in Westport, Mulranny, Newport and Achill and employs eight people during the tourism season which runs from March to September.
A native of Canada, Travis told The Mayo News that he knew the Greenway would be popular but it has outgrown his expectations.
“The Greenway is the real deal now and is definitely bringing people to the area. I knew it would be the next best thing in this area to Croagh Patrick and when I heard the whispers it was opening I knew there was potential for something big. I expected it to be popular but I didn’t expect it to be this popular. It is just starting now but once the word of mouth starts spreading more will come.”