Massive boost for Kildare as €2.5million funding provided for cycling greenway

It was confirmed this afternoon that a cycling greenway in Kildare will receive over €2.5 million in funding from the State.

The new greenway will run from Dublin to Galway when it is completed, and 38 kilometres of the route will be located from Maynooth to the Westmeath county border.

Speaking today the Minister said: “Since my appointment as Minister, I have been particularly struck by the far-reaching benefits that greenways can bring to the localities in which they are situated as is evidenced by the success of the Great Western Greenway and other projects around the country."

"These benefits are not just confined to the economic realm from jobs created and sustained through the construction of the greenways  to the spend on food, drink and accommodation by those using the greenways.  They also extend to the health benefits, both physical and mental, of cycling and walking and to the environmental benefits from a reduction in emissions.”

The route for the Kildare stretch of the greenway will run alongside the Royal Canal and go through the towns of Maynooth, Kilcock, Enfield and Longwood.

Kildare North TD, Bernard Durkan, welcomed the announcement of the allocation of funding, and he told KildareNow that it will do wonders for tourism in the area.

"These greenways and cycle ways are now regarded as a major part of tourism. It is also part and parcel of the emphasis on fitness, and keeping fit," said Deputy Durkan.

They are linking up all these cycleways, walkways and greenways together to make a network that will become part and parcel of a visitors' tour to the country. For instance, bringing in historical sites like Clonmacnoise, Clonard and all these places along the route, that they can get to along the course of the greenway route.