Sir, – In his An Irishman’s Diary (August 4th), Frank McNally outlines the plight of commuters to Galway city who face on an ongoing basis “its world-class traffic jams, now back to pre-pandemic levels and better”. Frank also outlines the fact that the city is ranked in the top 10 most congested cities in Europe, a stark statistic.
However, the release of Eamon Ryan’s strategic rail review last week is being well received locally and has given hope to many such hard-pressed commuters to the city that rail access will be expanded and improved. I particularly refer to the proposed reopening of the line south from Mayo through Tuam and into the heart of Galway city centre. This will allow passengers commute to Eyre Square sustainably from the main towns in Mayo such as Castlebar, Ballina, Westport and Claremorris, plus Tuam, and avoid the Curragh Line, roundabouts, lights and the dreaded Bóthar na dTreabh multiple times a week. It will also allow the big manufacturing sector in Mayo move their goods to ports in the south and reduce their carbon footprint. A double win for Mayo and Galway.
This brings me to Sligo. The provision of infrastructure facilitates economic growth and encourages investment in a region. Sligo does not feature on the motorway map of Ireland nor on the map of gas pipelines. Its main thoroughfare to its regional capital Galway, the N17, is limited to 80km/h for a large section in the county.
What it does have is a completely intact but currently closed railway to Galway. When the line from Galway to Mayo is reopened Sligo’s rail connection to the City of the Tribes will be 60 per cent rebuilt and reopened. Rehabilitating such lines with an intact alignment costs just 10 per cent per kilometre of new dual-carriageway and can be done within a short time frame. Completing the line to Sligo will enhance connectivity for employment, leisure, education, healthcare and industry. Sligo-based industries, like their Mayo counterparts, will also be able to avail of low-carbon logistics to southern ports.
READ MORE
This would then allow Frank McNally and hard-pressed citizens the benefit of improved wellbeing by avoiding daily traffic, tailbacks and roundabouts sustainably all the way from Sligo to Eyre Square. It would also help address Sligo’s infrastructure deficit.
Good for Sligo, the people and the planet. – Yours, etc,
ULTAN KEADY,
Caherlistrane,
Co Galway.
