Sir, – Cormac Meehan of Bundoran, Co Donegal, states clearly (September 22nd) the problem we have in the west of Ireland – we lack proper infrastructure which would provide us with the foundation of a sustainable economy that no longer relies on emigration or long-distance commuting.
Counties like my home county of Donegal would be open to both business and tourism in a way they are not right now.
However, some would have us rip up our remaining railways to provide a cycle path for tourists.
That vision would force us who live in the west to sit around waiting for handouts from summer visitors who may or may not come.
Greenways are little more than headstones on the grave of our once-comprehensive rail network. Let’s make that network work for the future of the people of Ireland rather than look back at it in nostalgia. – Yours, etc,
CORNELIUS LOGUE,
Quigley’s Point,
Co Donegal.
Sir, – About 20 million Europeans take cycling holidays each year, but almost none of them come to Ireland because we don’t have the long trails that sustain this business. Germany, for instance, has 70,000km of trails; we have a few small stretches that are only suited to short stays.
Kiltimagh lies on the closed railway that connects Athenry to Collooney; if developed as a cycleway it could connect Kiltimagh to the proposed Dublin-Galway greenway at Athenry, opening up all of east Mayo and indeed the northwest to one of Europe’s most profitable tourism sectors.
However, in order to attract this funding, county councils must apply for it, and therein lies the problem for dying towns like Kiltimagh. Mayo County Council has consistently refused to consider proposals for this infrastructure, clinging instead to a dream of an uneconomic railway that they know full well is not going to be built in our lifetimes. There seems to be an unwritten policy that tourism should be confined to west Mayo, and places like Kiltimagh should be helped to die a natural death.
If that’s what they want, they’re succeeding. – Yours, etc,
JOHN MULLIGAN,
Boyle,
Co Roscommon.