Campaigners say they have been left deeply frustrated after Irish Rail objected to a disused rail line being turned into a 35km cycleway, writes Jamie McCarron.

Over €1.2m has already been spent on public consultation for the project, but Irish Rail says that it may need the rail line because of an increased demand for train travel.

In 2014, Sligo County Council approved a plan to build a greenway on a 35.5 kilometre stretch of railway track between the towns of Collooney and Bellaghy in the county.

The track has not been used since 1975. Even though the project received €1.6m in funding, €1.2m of which has already been spent, Irish Rail submitted an objection, citing growing demand for rail services in the region.

Sligo Greenway Co-op, which has over 800 members, stated yesterday that it was “deeply saddened and frustrated” to learn of the project’s lack of progress, given that the group believed it had the government’s support.

The project has received €300,000 from the Department of Transport and over €1m from Transport Infrastructure Ireland.

“We have heard Irish Rail CEO Jim Meade say he is following Government policy, while Junior Minister Seán Canney says his hands are tied because this is an Irish Rail decision,” the Co-op stated.

“This is particularly confusing given that at a recent meeting, Mr Canney assured our delegation he was fully supporting the Sligo Greenway.

“Thousands of people are ultimately affected by this decision over the next few years.

“Meanwhile, communities in the northwest continue to be left behind, with nobody seeming to take responsibility.

“All we want is honesty and transparency for our communities.”

Sligo-Drumcliff Councillor Marie Casserly, who supports a greenway, questioned how public money could be spent planning for a project that went nowhere.

“Irish Rail gave us their blessing to use the land, we got funding under the assumption there was nothing to stand in the way of a greenway and then without any consultation with Sligo County Council, Irish Rail lodged an 11th hour objection,” Ms Casserly said.

The greenway co-op also questioned why Irish Rail lodged an objection on the last day of the project’s third public consultation in December, even though plans to reopen the rail line were not in the company’s long term rail plan for 2050.

Irish Rail owns the stretch of track and has stated that its use is being strongly considered in “any first review of the All-Island Strategic Rail Review”.

When asked when this review would take place, an Irish Rail spokesperson said this was a matter for the Department of Transport.

Irish Rail pointed at increased demands on its existing services in the West of Ireland, particularly along the Limerick to Galway route, as a reason to hold onto the rail line.

“Our first consideration has always been based on an assessment of public policy as it relates to the potential for reinstatement of an alignment as a rail route, and this informs our position on this matter,” a spokesperson said.

“It is not without precedent that the public policy position on potential rail reinstatement on closed alignments has changed.

“For example, the local authorities in the South East had been up to quite recently progressing a plan to develop a greenway on the Waterford to Rosslare line but are no longer pursuing this given the support now in place for rail reinstatement.”

The rail line between Waterford and Rosslare Harbour closed in 2010 and its reopening was recommended in the 2024 All-Ireland Strategic Rail Review.

A Department of Transport spokesperson, speaking on behalf of Junior Minister Seán Canney, said: “It would be in all our interests to protect the existing railway line and develop a greenway parallel to the rail line”.

Greenway campaigners have opposed this idea, claiming that it would require the compulsory purchase of a significant amount of land.

Cllr Casserly said: “That is a non-starter. We can’t put the greenway in people’s back gardens.”