Minister in Achill tomorrow to cut ribbon on new 5km Greenway

The official opening of the extension of the Greenway on to Achill Island will take place tomorrow, Friday, September 1 with Minister of State at the Department of Transport, Jack Chambers, TD performing the honours.

The new 5km section of the Great Western Greenway runs from Achill Sound to Cashel. The opening will take place at the Great Western Greenway Trail Head/Car Park at Achill Sound at 11am followed by a cycle/walk along the new Greenway, which ends at Ted Lavelle's in Cashel.

The new Greenway through Saula saw the upgrade of an existing bog-road as well as the construction of a boardwalk over bogs and joins with the existing Slí Sháile which was opened by Michael Ring, TD, in 2018.

The Greenway opened to the public earlier this summer having been delayed by a number of years after it was at the centre of a funding controversy involving Mayo County Council and the Department of Community and Rural Development.

In January 2019, Mayo County Council received €200,000 from the department for the construction of a 39-metre long footbridge linking Achill Sound with Springvale and the Slí Sháile section. However, it emerged in December 2020 that Mayo County Council had to return the funding following an audit by the department who discovered the funding was drawn down but the bridge was never installed.

The original proposed 39m long footbridge was never installed and instead a smaller footbridge was constructed at a different location.

There were further delays when the council had to install railings along the side of the boardwalk after health and safety concerns were raised.

Construction on another section of the Greenway through the village of Achill Sound is expected to get underway next month. This will result in an extensive development of the streetscape of the village at the entrance to the island with a promenade and picnic area to be developed opposite Sweeney's SuperValu supermarket. Plans are also in place for the creation of three pedestrian crossings and a car park and a wide patch of greenery in order to keep cyclists and pedestrians separated from vehicular traffic.

In February 2022, Transport Infrastructure Ireland, which now oversees the delivery of new Greenways in Ireland, allocated €1.9 million for the extension of the Greenway from Cashel to Bunnacurry. Preliminary plans for this section included the installation of a boardwalk along the shore in Cashel to connect with existing bog roads towards Bunacurry, but there has been no timeline published for when construction of this section may commence.