The team behind a two-mile greenway project on the Galway/Roscommon border has asked Galway County Council to contribute to the cost of lighting and safety measures for pedestrians and cyclists who will use it.

The greenway, just outside Ballyforan, is on target to open to the public early in 2025, as works progress on the 250-acre cutaway bog site at Caltraduff on the Ahascragh road out of the Roscommon village.

The development has been welcomed by Cllr Michael Connolly, Cathaoirleach of Ballinasloe Municipal Council, who hosted the deputation from the Ballyforan Area Transition Team (BATT).

At the meeting, he expressed the hope that the greenway could eventually be extended to Ballinasloe to link with the Galway to Athlone greenway.

“It is a great development and one that will bring in a lot of visitors to the area. With additional funding, it can be extended across the state-owned bogs to Ballinasloe. It would be some achievement,” said Cllr Connolly.

The project is financed by a combination of EU Just Transition money and matched local funding. The Ballyforan Area Transition Team have been working on the project for almost five years – and the two-mile greenway, with a car park for over 50 cars, is set to be ready for use in the New Year.

The foundations are in place across the site for the greenway and a quarry dust finish will be applied to make it suitable for cyclists, runners, casual walkers and tourists, particularly those with an interest in the unique blanket bog landscape that surrounds the site.

The greenway is part of the Bridge Bog Loop, which aims to eventually connect the greenway with Ballyforan village, either through a safe walkway across the Ballyforan bridge or a new pedestrian crossing over the River Suck.

The deputation at the Ballinasloe area meeting asked for public lighting at the bridge in Ballyforan to make it safer for greenway cyclists and pedestrians.

Noel Dunning, a member of the BATT committee and the former Roscommon U-21 manager, said that a huge amount of time and energy has gone into this project – both in terms of working with Bord na Móna to ensure that the site is made available and that it has been fully rewetted according to best practice.

He said that a number of local benefactors have put up their own money to ensure that this project will be completed on time, but they now appealing to the local community and indeed the wider diaspora to come in and help them out by making a contribution to put their name on a sponsor’s wall, similar to that which people might know at the Caltra Community Centre.

The Ballyforan Area Transition Team is made up of Noel Dunning, Cáit Kenny, Stephen Burke and Enda Hoey.

Pictured: Ballyforan Area Transitation Team deputation to Ballinasloe Municipal Council. Back: Noel Dunning and Enda Hoey Ballyforan Area Transition Team, Cllr Evelyn Parsons and Cllr Dermot Connolly. Front:  Derek Troy, Senior Engineer, Cllr Alan Harney, Cllr Michael Connolly, Chair Ballinasloe Municipal Council, Jackie Carroll, Director of Services with Galway County Council and Mary McGann, Meetings Administrator with Galway County Council. Photo: Gerry Stronge.