Public meeting in Omeath on Greenway

Louth County Council is to hold a second information event on Thursday, February 28 at the Dolmen Centre, Omeath, as part of a public consultation on the Carlingford Lough Greenway project.

The drop-in event takes place from 5pm to 8pm and members of the project team will be on hand to talk about the route and plans for the Greenway. They will deliver a presentation on the initiative at 6pm.

The €3.46 million project is funded under the European Union’s INTERREG VA Programme, which is managed by the Special EU Programmes Body (SEUPB).

It is led by Louth County Council, working in collaboration with Newry, Mourne and Down District Council and East Border Region Ltd. Match-funding has been provided by the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport in Ireland and the Department for Infrastructure in Northern Ireland. When completed, the Carlingford Lough Greenway will provide a world-class cross-border green travel route. The project will extend for approximately 20km from Carlingford to Newry City, providing a commuter and recreational facility for the area. The new 10.1km stretch will build on the popular Carlingford Marina to Omeath Greenway.

The project also includes the extension of the Greenway from the Marina into the village centre.

Following the recent public consultation meeting in Carlingford, the consultants have agreed to re-examine the proposed route following the recent well attended public consultation meeting in Carlingford.

The proposal from the consultants is for the Greenway to bypass the bridge/cutting at the northern entry to the village entirely. It would see the Greenway starting at the seafront in Carlingford, crossing the Omeath road into the village, continuing uphill through the village in the general direction of Omeath and the Marina and then cross back over the road near the entrance to the Marina itself. Traffic calming measures would be provided at the two crossing points on the main Omeath Road.

Local residents argued that other options should be explored which would bring the route closer to King John’s Castle and keep it as much as possible on the seaward side of the road.

The consultants have now agreed to re-examine the options.