Greenway a 'good fit' for Cavan tourism
Developing “a necklace” of visitor attractions to create a vibrant and thriving tourism industry in Cavan was teased out at the June meeting of the Cavan Belturbet Municipal District Authority.
Members discussed the need to evolve a number of sites in a bid to draw more visitors into the county and to provide activities for them. The matter was mulled over following two motions by Cllr John Paul Feeley (FF) who asked the executive for an update on the The Sligo Leitrim Northern Counties railway (SLNCR) and developing access to Cuilcagh.
The SLNCR was an old rail line that ran through Sligo, Leitrim and border towns in Cavan and Fermanagh. It had a colourful past, and was privately owned by Lord Tottenham of Glenfarne Hall who acted as chairman, main contractor and the financier of the line.
The proposed greenway trail will convert the disused railway route between Collooney and Enniskillen into a multi-use rail trail for cyclists, walkers and the mobility challenged. Starting in Collooney it passes through Ballintogher, Dromahair, Glenfarne, Blacklion and Enniskillen.
Cllr Feeley said it presents a valuable opportunity for Cavan tourism: “Greenways have been shown in other parts of the country to really transform the local economy. The Sligo Leitrim Northern Counties Greenway is an opportunity to link the Wild Atlantic Way into the joint initiative between Cavan County council and the Fermanagh and Omagh District council work on the Marble Arch Caves Global Geopark.
“It would also be a signature of cross border co-operation,” Cllr Feeley said. “It ties in with what we are doing as a council in terms of our walking and cycling strategy. In the Cavan Belturbet MD we have a number of elements we can put together from Cavan town to Carrigallen. This is a part of that jigsaw to link into the Ulster Canal Greenway, and the Belturbet to Dromod narrow gauge railway. This represents a huge piece of tourism infrastructure. It is a very significant amenity for the county town, but also for Belturbet, Ballyconnell and on to Ballinamore in County Leitrim.”
The Fianna Fáil representative said the project draws many strands together: “It fits in very well with what the council are doing with the Cavan Burren Park and the Marble Arch Caves, and also the proposals the council has put forward to develop the Shannon Pots. If we are to develop a tourism product in this county we need necklace of sites for people to visit and places for people to go. If we want our tourism industry take off we need flagship investments such as this. This can tie in with what we have in Killykeen. If we link all these together it really creates that potential.”
In the discussion on developing access to Cuilcagh, Cllr Peter McVitty (FG) pointed out that many people going to the boardwalk get misdirected by Google maps. Director of Services Brendan Jennings said the issue had been addressed with Google and other map providers, but the problem was compounded by the need to update maps regularly and as such there was no easy fix.