Cycleway and greenway for Nenagh - enhancing town's appeal as a leisure destination
Nenagh's fitness and leisure offering is to be greatly enhanced as Tipperary County Council has granted planning permission for what will essentially be a mini-greenway on the edge of the town.
And news that the local authority had given the Éire Óg GAA Club the green light to proceed with their ambitious project coincides with an announcement by the Minister of State for Transport, Hildegarde Naughton, of the allocation of €375,000 to develop a cycleway on the old N7 between Nenagh and Roscrea.
ÉIRE ÓG WALKWAY PLAN
In recent days the council granted permission to the local GAA club to develop a walkway through over 20 acres of a green belt that stretches from the Dark Road to encompass the club's existing grounds at MacDonagh Park in Gortlandroe. The club has also been granted permission to develop a new pitch which will also greatly enhance the sporting and leisure amenity offering in Nenagh. Contacted by this newspaper, Éire Óg Chairman John Tooher said it was the intention of the club to open up the walkway to the wider community.
He said the club would be considering ways of how it could generate an income stream from the new walkway. And he said the club was also open to facilitating runners and joggers who might wish to avail of the facility.
"All the details on this are yet to be worked out. Who comes in with us to support this project is all to play for. The walkway will be accessed from the Dark Road and we are hoping to lay down a good walking surface over what will be the guts of 20 acres," Mr Tooher revealed.
He added: "We will be trying to maximise these facilities as best we can and we are open to ideas from anyone, such as the those in the local walking club, as to how we might proceed."
Mr Tooher said a dedicated committee would be established representative of the juvenile, senior and camogie sections of the club to drive the project forward.
He said he could not give an exact timeframe of when works would commence as the club's income had dramatically reduced because of disruptions caused to its own lotto draw and the Tipperary GAA Draw arising from the Covid-19 Pandemic.
CLUB LOTTO TO RE-LAUNCH
Both of these initiatives - which are the two main income sources for the club - are now about to be re-launched and Mr Tooher has urged as many people as possible to support the fundraisers so that the club can be in a financial position to progress its plan.
"It costs us €50,000 a year just to open the gates of MacDonagh Park so we do need help," said Mr Tooher, who added that the club were also looking into the availability of grant aid.The council has also granted the club permission to develop new dressing rooms, a car parking area, floodlighting system, protective ball netting as well as ancillary works. The works are part of a wider plan by Éire Óg to extend and upgrade its playing and training facilities at MacDonagh Park. As well as the new playing pitch, the club has plans in the pipeline to build a new hurling wall in the coming years.
The lands the club acquired at Stereame in recent years will see the development of the new sand-based playing pitch which will have access from the Dark Road.
As outlined by our Sports Editor Shane Brophy earlier this year, the club also has plans to carry out development works on its main pitch, which will involve concrete seating on either side of the pitch removed to facilitate widening of the pitch.
There are plans to remove the grass bank adjacent to the existing club complex to make room for a new training area were it is hoped a hurling wall will eventually be erected. Mr Tooher thanked the business community of the town for helping to fund its efforts and is hoping that the wider community will now support its ambitious plans.
CYCLEWAY LINKING NENAGH AND ROSCREA
Meanwhile, the announcement of funding to develop the cycleway from Nenagh to Roscrea has been welcomed by Deputy Alan Kelly who as Transport Minister secured funds for the development of a similar facility between Limerick and Nenagh in 2012.
"I have been advocating for this cycleway from Nenagh to Roscrea for a number of years. It is a natural extension that will see us now have a cycleway all the way from Limerick to Roscrea via Nenagh," he said. He added: "This will bring more visitors to both Nenagh and Roscrea and it will be a major boost to the North Tipperary Wheelers club and all other cycling groups around North Tipperary and it will become a premier route for training and competition for cyclists all over Ireland. It will also be a big boost to the economies of Nenagh and Roscrea."