Super Mario takes part in a St. Patrick's Day Parade in Connemara!

 

All along the route of the St. Patrick's Day Parade in Moycullen, the Connemara Greenway Alliance group of walkers(including one man and his dog!) cyclists (& a unicyclist - Gabe!) and in buggies were clapped and cheered on by the watching crowds.

This was a manifestation of the huge support that this proposed walking and cycling green infrastructure has amongst the people of Connemara.

The Connemara Greenway is long overdue! In our seven years in existence, the Alliance has seen greenways across Ireland open up. So in the public consultation that happens this week in the University of Galway (Wednesday), Moycullen (Thursday) and Oughterard (Friday), we ask supporters of the Connemara Greenway to attend and make their feelings known.

And by the way, I really enjoyed dressing up as Super Mario for the parade once again! It is always nice to bring a bit of humour to a serious community campaign.

But on a political note, I made sure that Super Mario wore a Palestinian scarf. We must continue to keep pushing for a ceasefire in Gaza at all opportunities.

Council Neglect of Public Parks is harming City Schools, People’s Health and Biodiversity

We are asking all lovers of nature and of community to join volunteers at 10am on this Saturday Dec 8th from the Quincentenary Bridge entrance to take part in a significant cleanup in Terryland Forest Park that we hope will highlight the unacceptable increased levels of anti-social behaviour occurring there over the last few months particularly in terms of litter and therefore the critical need for Galway City Council to follow the lead of other cities in appointing full-time parks’ grounds staff.

Working with community volunteers and implementing an ‘Adopt a Patch’ scheme with local residents and businesses that we will launch next month, we feel that this new suggested policy change by City Hall could have a major positive impact on reclaiming the park for the people of Galway in order to fulfil its official designation as the “People’s Park” and the “Lungs of the City” as well  as a urban wildlife sanctuary.  Terryland has the potential to become a major green regional hub linking the Connemara Greenway over a new pedestrian bridge along the old railway pillars, to the Corrib waterways and to a large untapped walking/cycling ‘boreen’ network on the north and east sides of the city.

Sadly years of council neglect due to a shrinking budget from government and other factors is destroying our city’s green spaces particularly in relation to Terryland Forest Park, a green facility that its founders in 1996 had hoped would become the equivalent of the Phoenix Park of Galway.

A dedicated team of volunteers from all walks of life have done so much over the last few years to successfully develop this natural heritage zone as an Outdoor Classroom for local schools; an Outdoor Laboratory for third level science research; a major ecological corridor and sanctuary for wildlife that research has shown contains at least 350 species; and a landscape for revitalising rural heritage skills and organic farming. But sadly the absence of on-the-ground park wardens and maintenance staff has led to an epidemic of litter and a surge in vandalism that is transforming Terryland and other public parks into ‘No Go Zones’ for the public as well as negatively impacting on the park’s biodiversity.

Sadly the visitor is now greeted with carcasses of blackened burnt tree trunks on abandoned night-time campfires; the wanton destruction of picnic benches; paint-peeled park seating; mounds of alcohol bottles/cans lying beside outdoor exercise equipment; overflowing uncollected ugly council blackbags beside every seat which are ripped open with their contents covering woodlands and killing wildlife in the process; the detritus of heroin drug use in the form of used needles and tin foil scattered across pathways; gates and boundary fences rotting away; a Terryland river that is being choked to death by nitrates and many large empty display boards deprived of their lovingly researched and artistically drawn biodiversity information signage that have been inexplicably kept for years in cold storage by the council.  This sorry state of affairs is destroying the morale of many of those who have given thousands of hours free of charge since March 2000 to plant tens of thousands of trees, to develop a network of wildflower bee haven meadows, to carve Celtic art into large stones in order to form a unique heritage trail and to install multiple bat boxes. Many veteran volunteers of all ages have understandingly recently given up collecting rubbish monthly when they see no reciprocal council system in place to ensure regular litter picking and bench/fence/seating maintenance. 

This is a nightmare scenario to the visionaries drawn from council staff, politicians, state agencies, academia, local communities, schools and the environmental movement who came together in the 1990s to designate 180 acres of fields to develop a wonderful mosaic of parklands, farmland, wetlands, waterways, and woods that would serve the leisure needs of Galwegians of all ages as well as providing a ‘wildlife corridor’ linking the Corrib waterways to the farmlands of east Galway via the city.  Even then they understood the importance of easy access to natural land/waterscapes for people’s physical and mental health as well in benefiting children’s learning experiences through contact with Nature. Since then the importance of forestry in combating Climate Change,  maintaining soil fertility and structure as well as filtering toxic car emissions out of the atmosphere has being scientifically proven.

So we have written to Mayor McNelis, a great friend of the Terryland Forest Park, for his help in re-establishing the great sense of unity of purpose that existed when the park opened on a Sunday in March 2000 as c3,500 people turned up to plant an entire urban woodland in the heart of the city. We have asked him to organise a meeting of community activists with the CEO, officials, and councillors of Galway city council around our key demands of the reconvening of the park’s multi-sectoral steering committee which was promised last February by CEO Brendan McGrath; to ring-fence the €50,000 allocated in last year’s council budget towards developing a Management Plan  or Terryland park/river that was supposed to happen in 2018 and has not; to appoint a city Biodiversity Officer as is the case in Dublin; to consider building ‘green bridges’ to connect the different parts of the park separated by  roads; and finally to appoint full time wardens and operative staff for this and other parks. The latter is crucial if we are to restore public confidence in Terryland. Not having park ground staff is ludicrous. For instance St Stephen’s Green and Phoenix Park would degenerate into a dangerous wasteland within weeks if Dublin City Council withdrew staff from its grounds.   

In February, doctors, teachers, students, scientists, resident associations, urban farmers, environmentalists, state agency representatives, politicians, artists and others will come together to launch the campaign for Galway to become Ireland’s first ‘National Park City’. We earnestly wish City Hall to be part of this initiative. Hence we hope their actions on Terryland Forest Park over the next month will make the council worthy partners in this project.

10,000 demand a Connemara Greenway!

Shouldn't everyone be able to experience the beautiful Connemara landscape of this photograph in safety, at a leisurely pace, with family, friends or by oneself, away from the noise and traffic of motorised vehicles?

 

In the last four weeks, nearly 6,500 people agree with these sentiments and have signed our petition requesting that a Connemara Greenway be built along the old railway line from Galway city to Clifden. 

The landscapes and waterscapes of this area of Ireland are world famous and are celebrated in song and verse. But the enjoyment factor for tourists are severely curtailed due to a lack of a safe walking and cycling infrastructure. Such an facility would benefit not only visitors but also the people of Connemara, offering them a commuter facility to and from Galway city as well as providing sustainable jobs. The educational, health, social, environmental and economic benefits are huge.

The government recently launched a national Greenway strategy with €53 million being made available to local authorities to invest in developing the networks in the 2019-2021 period. Galway County Council now has to submit a proposal by late November requesting funding for the Connemara Greenway which is planned to link into a Galway city - Dublin Greenway and hopefully onto the existing Mayo Greenway and a proposed Sligo Greenway (that my good friend Martin J Brennan is leading the campaign for). 

 

So we need to get our petition completed within the next few weeks and hand it into the county council in order to ensure that they apply for funding for the whole route. Can we get 20,000 names before we submit? It would be wonderful if we could! So please support this noble cause and sign the petition if you have not already do so at https://bit.ly/2MgGyMl. Please encourage your family, friends and work colleagues to do likewise.

Connemara Greenway captures the Public Imagination

It was great to be back on the campaign trail interacting with people on the streets of Galway city, this time with the Connemara Greenway Alliance which is pushing for an amenity that will change the face of tourism in Galway and the western seaboard as well as bring positive economic, social, community, health and environmental benefits to its people. 

The Connemara Greenway, which is to be developed along the abandoned 77km railway line from Galway city to Clifden, will allow visitors for the first time in the era of motorised transport to safely walk and cycle through one of Ireland’s most famous landscapes.

I was so impressed with the enthusiastic support from the public at our Saturday stand at the Spanish Arch. People were lining up to sign the Greenway petition with comments such as a “win win for all” and “long overdue” being uttered time and time again.

Whilst Galway County Council opened the first completed section of the proposed Greenway a few weeks ago, a 6km section at Ballinahinch-Ballinafad and planning permission has been obtained for the Clifden to Oughterard section, nevertheless the political momentum needs to be increased to ensure progress especially along the Moycullen to Galway city if the Greenway is to completed over the next few years.
Support though in Connemara is growing and our Alliance includes the Moycullen Community Development Association, the Connemara Chamber of Commerce, the MaumTurk walking club and families and landowners living along the route
For there is a growing realisation that Connemara will not only benefit from tourists travelling from outside Galway and from overseas seeking to experience a Greenway that is located in a region of beautiful landscapes and rich cultural heritage known throughout the world, it will finally be able to exploit a large untapped market that exists on its doorstep, namely the circa 80,000 urban population of Galway city. However it is not only an amenity for tourists. Connemara folk will be able to commute to and from the city, meet neighbours and enjoy their own locality.

To get an inkling of what the landscapes of Galway can bring to leisurely cycling, why not join me tomorrow (Sunday) at 9.30am at the Plots on the Dyke Road to take part in the Seven Galway Castles & Organic Gardens Heritage Cycle Tour. Check out https://bit.ly/2Mwlx0L

The Athenry Castles Heritage Looped Cycle Trail

A delightful journey of discovery through a beautiful hidden landscape

of east Galway.

Country Fair Day, Monivea

Tour Times/Dates: 9.30am, Athenry Castle, Sunday June 11th 

Duration: circa. 7hrs

Start location and route: Athenry Castle, continue onto Monivea Bog, to Monivea village, then onto Castle Ellen and finish up at Athenry Castle. 

Organiser: Cumann na bhFear (Men's Shed, Ballinfoile).
Contact: Brendan Smith, speediecelt@gmail.com 
The event is being organised in assocation with Galway Bike Festival and the national Bike Week.

With its largely unspoilt landscape of small farms, hedgerows, stone walls, lakes, bogs, rivers, castles, Gerogian mansions, network of botharíns and villages, east Galway is a largely unknown landscape waiting to be discovered by walkers and cyclists. 

The aim of this pioneering heritage tour is to open up a new heritage route that will allow visitors to experience these wonderful timeless features and environment by way of a leisurely cycle through a representative section of east Galway that could  act as a catalyst in the development of  a network of Greenways.

The circa 30km looped cycle tour will start at Athenry where we will have a guided tour of the Castle (above) followed by walk through medieval Athenry. After our interest of the town's local history is satisfied we travel onto the Monivea Road before turning right approximately two kilometres outside Athenry in the direction of Graigabbey. 

The participants will then cycle through the farmlands and bogs of Bengarra, (above) on into the village of Newcastle, along a botharín through the Monivea Bog with its fascinating flora and fauna; to the Monivea demesne with its collection of historical sites that was for centuries the home of the renowned Anglo-Norman fFrench family, one of the famous merchant tribes of Galway. 

fFrench Mausoleum

This will be followed by a stopover in the quaint plantation village of Monivea. 

From there the tour will continue onto Castle Ellen (above) for a picnic on the lawns of the famed Georgian mansion that was formerly the residency of the Anglo-Irish Lambert family. After a guided tour of the demesne by Its owner Michael Keaney, participants will cycle onto towards the town of Athenry to finish up at Athenry Castle. 

Abaondoned farm, Currantarmuid

Monivea Wood