Mayo councillor slams decision to give up railway corridor for greenway

Independent Mayo councillor Patsy O'Brien has strongly criticised the decision by Iarnród Éireann to make the disused railway alignment between Bellaghy and Collooney available for the development of the Sligo Greenway, describing it as another example of a failure of political vision for the west and north-west.

Iarnród Éireann confirmed this week that it has agreed to facilitate a licence arrangement with Sligo County Council for the 35km section of the former Western Rail Corridor. The railway company had previously opposed putting the greenway on the rail alignment, arguing that the route should be protected for the possible future restoration of rail services.

Cllr O'Brien said the reversal was deeply disappointing and believed it sent a clear message about the State's long-term ambitions for South Sligo.

"This is a terrible decision and one which future generations may look back on and wonder how it was ever allowed to happen. We constantly hear politicians talking about balanced regional development, climate change, sustainable transport and developing the west. Yet here we have an existing strategic transport corridor running between Sligo and Galway and the decision is effectively being made that we do not envisage needing a railway on it for the foreseeable future.

"I have nothing whatsoever against greenways. Greenways are excellent amenities and I would strongly support the development of a greenway through South Sligo. What I cannot support is sacrificing a railway corridor to provide one. We should have the ambition to provide both."

N17 upgrade also under fire

The Robeen-based councillor said the decision had to be considered alongside the continuing failure to upgrade the N17, particularly through South Sligo. The N17 Knock to Collooney project is intended to upgrade approximately 55km of the route, including bypasses of Tubbercurry, Charlestown-Bellaghy, Ballinacarrow and Curry.

Cllr O'Brien said South Sligo was entitled to ask why infrastructure regarded as essential elsewhere remained an aspiration there.

"Look at the N17. Travel from Galway towards Sligo and you can see the investment that has taken place elsewhere along that corridor. Then you come through Curry and on towards Collooney and you are still travelling on a road which is completely inadequate for the volume and type of traffic using it.

"We have talked about upgrading this road for years. We have talked about the Atlantic Economic Corridor. We have talked about connecting Galway, Mayo and Sligo and giving the north-west the infrastructure necessary to compete. I have previously said that what has been missing is the political will to deliver the proper standard of road between Galway and Sligo.

"Now, at the same time that we cannot get the N17 infrastructure South Sligo deserves, we are effectively accepting that the railway will not be required either. What conclusion are the people of South Sligo supposed to draw from that?"

Irish Rail insists rail option remains open

Iarnród Éireann has stressed that the land will remain in its ownership and that the licence arrangement will preserve the possibility of restoring rail services in the future. According to the Mayo News, the company has said the progress being made on reopening the Athenry–Claremorris section of the Western Rail Corridor could strengthen the eventual business case for extending the line north to Sligo, a prospect it says will be reviewed periodically.

It has also said it will work with Sligo County Council on the precise routing of the greenway with the aim of minimising the need for land acquisition, while preserving the possibility of the alignment being reopened for rail in future.

The Department of Transport has also backed the move. A spokesperson said Minister Darragh O'Brien welcomed the "pragmatic approach" being taken by state agencies to use state-owned lands to progress transport infrastructure projects.

Cllr O'Brien said he took little comfort from those assurances.

"Once millions of euro have been invested in a greenway and communities and businesses have developed around it, does anybody seriously believe that removing it in 20 or 30 years to reinstate a railway will be straightforward? We should be planning infrastructure for the next 50 or 100 years, not looking for the easiest solution today.

"To me, the message is very stark. South Sligo has been written off. We won't give you the road infrastructure that other parts of the country have received, and now we are prepared to use the railway corridor for something else because we don't see a railway coming back in the medium term.

"That is not balanced regional development. It is a failure of political ambition. South Sligo needs investment, connectivity and jobs. It needs politicians prepared to fight for infrastructure before the opportunity is gone. We should be talking about reopening the railway and upgrading the N17 while developing a greenway alongside them. That would be vision. What we are seeing instead is acceptance of second best."

Wider backlash

Cllr O'Brien's intervention adds to a wider backlash against the decision. Sinn Féin's Martin Kenny, TD for Sligo, Leitrim and South Donegal, said greenway schemes nationally had become a distraction from delivering permanent road and rail infrastructure, while Labour Senator Nessa Cosgrove pointed out that between €1 million and €1.6 million had already been spent on planning the greenway with no reliable construction estimate available.

The Western Inter-County Railway Committee, representing eight local authorities from Donegal to Clare, called the move "an appalling mistake" and pointed to the removal of the Youghal railway in Cork as proof that such greenway arrangements "have no credibility." Campaign group West on Track said the loss of the alignment "beggars belief" and warned that once a track is lifted, it will never be replaced.

Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme