Sligo receives €3 million in funding for cycling and walking paths

SLIGO will get a significant €3 million in funding this year to continue the transformation that is taking place in walking and cycling infrastructure right across the county.

This funding includes €25,000 for the Collooney Active Travel Plan and for Enniscrone and Tubbercurry footpaths as well as €125,000 for the Sligo city to ATU active travel corridor. On top of this, the funding includes investment in cycle parking and enabling works for shared e-bikes in the Sligo area. It also includes funding to provide safe active travel routes for St Johns school, Scoil Asicus, Scoil Ursula, Jesus and Mary Secondary school Enniscrone.

Under national active travel plans announced today, €290m will be spent nationally in 2024 to fund roughly 800 new and existing projects across the county, including the projects here in Sligo. This means that the Government will have spent more than €1 billion on walking and cycling infrastructure since 2020 on more than 600km of cycling and walking infrastructure in Ireland.

Eimear Conlon, Green Party representative for Ballymote Tubbercurry explained how the funding will benefit the local area;

“Walking and cycling are a great way to stay healthy, take cars off the roads and bring more footfall into our town centres. That is why it is fantastic to see over €3 million will be invested in walking and cycling across Ireland this year. I am particularly delighted to see €335,000 in funding to ensure children can safely travel to school in Sligo.”

Minister for Transport Eamon Ryan, said;

“The Green Party is dedicated to making walking and cycling a safe and attractive option in all our cities and towns and we have shown that in the four years we’ve been in Government with record investment right across the country. Ireland is now top of the global list per capita for investment in active travel. This plan is great for the environment, our towns and our health. We are already seeing the impact of the €1 billion investment as it is easier and healthier to travel on our roads. The best cities and towns in the world to live in are those that make it easy for people to walk around and this idea is being embraced by many towns in Ireland.”