Update on the Midleton to Youghal Greenway - June 2024

Back on the 7th of March 2024, the 8km section of Greenway from Midleton to Mogeely opened and it has proved to be very popular with walkers and runners. According to some sources, the remaining 15km section from Mogeely to Youghal is supposed to open by the end of the 2024.

I've checked the remaining section out over the last few weeks and large parts of it are complete with a nice tarmac surface. The image below shows the section east of Killeagh.

Other sections in the village of Killeagh and in Youghal still need quite a lot of work to finish. When I passed during the working week, there was no obvious sign that any major work was ongoing.

We'll have to wait and see but I wouldn't be surprised if it slips into 2025 before it opens.

Video... DRONEHAWK posted a video of the section from Youghal to Mogeely on their YouTube channel and it shows what the line looks like as of June 2024.

I have no doubt that once it opens, the section from Youghal to Killeagh will prove to be very popular with walkers, runners and visitors.

Update on the Midleton to Youghal Greenway - August 2021

It was announced some time back that there was going to be a new Greenway between the towns of Midleton and Youghal in East Cork. See this previous post.

Now that the restrictions have been lifted, they have been making great progress as can be seen from the photo below taken in August 2021...

The completion date for the whole 21km project from Midleton to Youghal is the Spring of 2023 although I'd expect it will open up in stages as they are completed. I suspect the Midleton to Mogeely section will be open first perhaps in the Spring or Summer of 2022?

This is what happened with the Waterford to Dungarvan Greenway. The section from Dungarvan to Kilmacthomas was open for a year or two before the rest was completed and what a goldmine that turned out to be.

Will we see a Midleton Marathon going from Midleton to Youghal and back? 

Will there be a East Cork Greenway Half-Marathon with runners being bussed from Midleton to Youghal and then running the 21.1kms on the Greenway back to Midleton?

The beauty of a Greenway is that it is open to everyone and it benefits walkers, runners and cyclists. We badly need to see more routes opening up.

Government fund 100% of Midleton to Youghal Greenway

On Monday the 9th of November, a number of media outlets reported that a number of Greenway projects around the country were being funded by the Irish Government including the new Midleton to Youghal Greenway.

At first, this might seem like old news as most of these projects had already been announced. What was significant about this announcement was the funding aspect.

Previously, the Irish Government said that it would fund 60% of the cost of the Greenway with the relevant local authority putting up 40%. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, many of the local authorities now have financial difficulties and there was probably a real danger that that Greenways wouldn't get built. As a result, the Government have announced that it will finance the Greenway projects by 100%.

 A total of €63 million was announced in the press release for Greenway projects nationwide.

The projects in Munster are...

Cork - Midleton to Youghal €10 million

Wexford - Waterford City to New Ross €9m

Kerry - Tralee to Fenit €3.4m

Kerry - Listowel to Tralee €4.5m

Kerry - South Kerry Greenway €1.4m

Limerick - Great Southern Greenway Limerick €2.5m.

Work is currently progressing on the Midleton to Youghal Greenway and the planned completion date is late 2022.

Links...

1) Government Press Release - Funding of €63.5m for Greenways in 2021 confirmed by Ministers Ryan and Naughton

Cork Council Council to put plans for new East Cork Greenway on display soon

In a recent article in the Evening Echo, it was announced that proposed plans for the new Greenway on the former railway line from Youghal to Midleton.

Clare Cronin, project manager for Cork County Council said...“The drawings will go on display in the coming weeks. Anecdotally, we have been getting a lot of support but quite often we don’t hear the positives as part of the consultation process. So we would encourage people in support of the process to make sure their voices are heard. We want this to be a flagship project for east Cork. The greenways have proved very successful and they open up areas along the way that aren’t open now. Villages like Castlemartyr and Mogeely would benefit, the spin-off would be massive for tourism in the area. The Youghal track is owned by Irish Rail and they are agreeable for us to make the application. If we are successful, the intention will be to take a long-term lease or licence from them to develop and manage the greenway. Cork County council are very keen to secure a large-scale greenway project for the county, having seen how successful they have been elsewhere. Initially, a number of options were looked at, including the one to Kinsale but that old railway line is predominantly in private ownership. For that reason, the council has decided to focus on projects where the land is in public ownership.”

The new Greenway in Waterford which opened earlier this year has been a huge success with large numbers of people walking, running and cycling on it. It has also given a welcome boost to existing businesses like hotels and cafes as well as enabling the establishment of some new cycle hire firms.

The one big difference with the new proposed Greenway in East Cork is that the Greater Cork Metropolitan area is on its doorstep with a population of 400,000 people. If the Waterford one is popular, just imagine what the East Cork one will be like.

As you might imagine, the whole process is likely to take some time. Public consultations, planning, getting funding and then eventual construction....it all takes time but at least the ball is rolling.


The Evening Echo article is HERE

More progress on the Midleton to Youghal Greenway...

Back in late 2016, I had a post up about how Iarnród Éireann were proposing to abandon the old Midleton to Youghal railway line due to maintenance costs. This raised the possibility of it being turned into a Greenway.

At the East Cork Municipality meeting for councilors last week, formal approval was given for the proposed Midleton to Youghal Greenway plan to go forward for public consultation. This should appear over the next few weeks.

The success of the recent Waterford Greenway has certainly given a boost to a lot of other Greenway projects around the country with many communities are now asking if it can be replicated in their own areas. The Waterford Greenway seems to be very popular and there was a good article recently in the Irish Independent about it HERE.

If you consider that the Waterford Greenway runs between Waterford City (pop 53,000) and Dungarvan (pop 8,000), imagine what the new East Cork Greenway might be like with the Greater Cork Metropolitan area on its doorstep with a population of some 400,000? How many people are likely to use it for walking, cycling or running at the weekend? How many cafés would benefit? Bike hire shops? Hotels and B&B's? Imagine what the economic return would be on a new Greenway that is low maintenance and all for a projected cost of €6 million.

The biggest objections to the Greenway project are likely to come from people who wish to see the return of the old rail link from Midleton to Youghal. When the railway was extended from Glounthaune to Carrigtwohill and Midleton back in 2009, it cost in the region of €130 million for the 10km line. What would it cost now for a 22km rail link from Midleton to Youghal? €200 million? €300 million? Would any government seriously spend that kind of money considering that building relief roads around places like Castlemartyr and Killeagh would probably have a much bigger impact.

After the recent meeting, a local East Cork politician Cllr Mary Linehan Foley said “If we don’t take this Greenway project, there’s nothing going to happen to the railway between Youghal and Midleton. It’s never going to reopen as a railway line.”

And I suspect she is probably correct. If the rail objectors get their way, the old line is just going to sit there unused for another 40 years. Invest €6 million now and the whole East Cork region will get a financial boost for the foreseeable future.

Will we see the East Cork Greenway Half-Marathon sometime in 2023?

Link...
1) East Cork Journal article