HOPES of completing on the Kinvara boardwalk project have been put on shaky terrain with costs of €8-10m now calculated.
Costs for the project are considered too high to warrant investment in the Kinvara Boardwalk.
Total costs for the completion of the 1.2km boardwalk are now estimated to be in the region of €8 to €10m.
At the October meeting of Galway County Council, Director of Services, Liam Hanrahan said both the Baywalk Project and the transfer of Dunguaire Castle must be considered together as part of a single development project.
The Baywalk Project, which has been in development for nearly two decades, was originally envisioned by a group of local residents hoping to enhance the area for both tourists and the community. The 1.2km walkway incorporating 600 metres over land and 600 metres over water, would connect Kinvara village to the iconic 16th-century Dunguaire Castle, one of the most photographed sites along the Wild Atlantic Way.
€124,781 was allocated in February 2019 under the Rural Regeneration Development Fund for a full design of the boardwalk project. No formal plans were submitted for the latest round of the RRDF announced earlier this month, the deadline for which applications had to be lodged was in May.
A decade ago, Lorraine Higgins (LAB) during her time as a Senator proposed that road safety concerns in Kinvara could be remedied by the introduction of a boardwalk for pedestrians from the town to Dunguaire Castle which would run alongside the Quay Road and the N67 to Dunguaire Castle.
She flagged that success of the Wild Atlantic Way has resulted in heavier traffic on the N67, which runs from Kilcolgan through Kinvara into County Clare. This increase has in turn lead to heightened concerns about road safety in Kinvara.
Galway County Council in 2022 acquired lands to allow for the construction of the boardwalk but little progress has been made since then. To support the project, €600.000 was included in the 2024 Roads Programme, and consultants were appointed in 2022 to advance design and planning after the project was transferred from Transport Infrastructure Ireland’s local office. Surveys, ground investigations, and design options have been completed to date.
Kiltartan native, Cllr Paul Killilea (FG) who resides in Kinvara said the costings associated with the project were incredible. “I feel they are astronomical costings, an eco-boardwalk in Youghal stretching over seven kilometres which has transformed Youghal cost €2.3m in 2021, we need action and we need it now, there is frustration and anger locally as the brakes are put on the boardwalk project and the castle reopening, it is not good enough, it would be immeasurable economically how both projects could transform regional tourism not just in Kinvara and South Galway but as a region, we need action and we need it now before it is too later”.
