Preliminary design of a Greenway linking Limerick City with Clonlara, O’Briensbridge, Killaloe and Scariff will go to tender next week.

In July, €140,000 was allocated for the design of the Greenway, which will start from the existing greenway to UL, crossing the River Shannon over the Black Bridge and following the old Errina canal across publicly-owned lands to O’Briensbridge and Killaloe and onwards to Scariff.

Waterways Ireland have confirmed that a tender for the preliminary design will be published next week with a target for this to be completed by the first half of 2021.

Clare TD, Michael McNamara (IND) stated, “This is welcome news for the communities involved particularly Clonlara and O’Briensbridge in terms of attracting tourists and providing a local community amenity. This is a project that I have been advocating for since I was first elected to the Dáil in 2011 and I am glad to note the progress that has been made since then. This project has the potential to deliver a huge tourism boost to East Clare and Limerick similar to what has been delivered by the Waterford and Westport Greenways for their local areas”.

“Hiking, cycling and hillwalking tourism is huge in Ireland but there are few examples of the existence of such activities occurring across county boundaries. The Greenway linking the existing Lough Derg Blueway with Limerick City will open the existing abundance of loops, cycle routes and other outdoor activity trails in East Clare to a much wider domestic market,” he added.