Western Rail Corridor / Rail Trail Discussion

you can be dam sure it will be delayed so no action can take place under this Dail, the tactic of West on Track now is to delay it further as the only political support that exists for this project is from SF; SF and WOT are glued together and O'Raggilly knows his ultimate dream will only come to fruition from the SF/WOT alliance. God knows why they see this as the saviour of the West is beyond any rational thinking in the meantime with some of the comments flying around about the NDP at present its worth looking at what certain people said in the past, strange how they don't stick by what they say.

I see that Sinn Fein are bringing a Private Members motion to the Dail tomorrow on Regional Transport Infrastructure - among the wish-list it "calls on the government to ... commit to delivering the Western Rail Corridor". Their Mayo TD, says that "The failure to include a Western Rail Corridor [in the National Development Plan] was a missed opportunity". Hmmmm ... "a" Western Rail Corridor. Not "the" Western Rail Corridor? Maybe she has another one in mind!

Anyway, she's keeping her WOTsApp group happy, and that's the important thing!

Sinn Fein/West on Track SFWOT does this phrase now make sense:

https://www.oceanfm.ie/2021/11/11/opening-the-collooney-claremorris-rail-line-will-lead-to-investment-and-jobs/?fbclid=IwAR2DzgarNy4uq4M-_dGPXyMxOaJq0zXvspK2fGmfFqflc93hXDW_3OcHy6I

Yep that is a pity but it shows the plans of SF/WOT this mouthpiece of a cllr has clearly been given orders to start getting the railway back on the agenda in the council and in the county, even though the county executive backed by the chamber are busy spending €300.000 seed funding money to get this project off the mark and Minister Ryan fully backs the Sligo Greenway, the SF/WOT plan is to stall the project as long as possible.hopefully people will see this latest attempt to bring the railway back into the debate on this stretch of the so called Western Rail Corridor, it is all about stalling the greenway, they know full well when the Sligo greenway is built and terminates in Charlestown people in East Mayo will finally go ballistic with the council and the East Mayo Greenway to Claremorris will have to happen. Watch this space SF/WOT are targeting the Sligo Greenway.

Off topic but having spent 4 days cycling around Gort/Kinvara/Derrybrien/Abbey/Abbeyshrule and the Sliabh Aughty mountains over a warm few days in August, it is lovely countryside. A part of the world I knew nothing about but certainly one I would revisit on the bike. Greenway or not.

edit - wrong thread

Congratulations to Sligo Greenway Co Op and the Quiet Man Greenway committees on being included in the latest tranche of funding.

The PDF on its own is here. Very impressive when you see the full list of projects together. We're really committed to this stuff now. Great to see.

It sounded like he mentioned Mayo CoCo and thought to himself "oh better not hang them", so mentioned Galway and Sligo too. Granted Galway is a sh*tshow when it comes to greenways but Sligo is pushing ahead themselves so no need to drag them into it.

Hello folks not been in this happy nut house for awhile, so since I've been gone: Sligo greenway is all but going to tender, and TEN-T has once again said there will be no WRC and MCC are still pouring money into the slush fund velorail project, Galway coco and MCC have published new county plans that blatantly ignored thousands of submissions asking for a greenway and what else oh yes, someone is still promising to drain the shannon, nothing new then!

I wonder what effect the death of Fr. MacGréil will have on West On Track - if that organisation is still going?

I think this needs to be challenged. You may say you are not disrespecting the man but comparing him to Fr Ted suggests otherwise. It was due to a small number of people like him that pressure was applied in the late 1970s to prevent the lifting of the rails following closure of the lines. If this had happened it is unlikely that the route would have been protected from encroachment and the cost of reopening now would be astronomical and mired in legal wrangles. He was clearly a man of intellect having published numerous respected academic papers and books. Not to mention the work he did in promoting the irish language and campagning for social justice and marginalised communities. He was also heavily involved in decriminalisation of homosexuality as far back as the early 80s and he spent time living with travelling communities to gain an understanding of their challenges. I dont think anyone could say that is the legacy a man with antiquated views.

he was a very vocal operator as part of the campaign and understood the west to an absolute t, he never stated trains would stop people leaving, however he recognised transport and trains included are a part of creating a better environement for people to live in and he has been shown to be correct on that score.

he would only have created a father ted immage of the railway in the minds of those who were and still are against it's existence and can't be blamed for holding anything railway related back since the politicians weren't really that interested in rail bar just keeping it going for decades.

they are the only ones to blame for that backward ideology for which they are being forced kicking and screaming to modernise but not fast enough.