Irish Examiner view: Limerick wears the green jersey as it enriches cycle network

Seán and Delma Carter with their daughters Emma (14) and Grace (18) on the Limerick Greenway. The newly renovated 40km scenic off-road walking and cycling route which is now open to the public, connecting the three market towns of Rathkeale, Newcastle West and Abbeyfeale. Picture: Seán Curtin, True Media.

The Limerick greenway will be officially opened today. It will be a welcome addition to a growing network of similarly enriching opportunities right across the country. If the 40km off-road walking and cycling route connecting three old market towns — Rathkeale, Newcastle West, and Abbeyfeale — proves as popular as some earlier green routes, the efforts and vision involved in it will be well rewarded.

This possibility must encourage the promoters of the greenway in south Kerry to hope that an imminent court ruling might finally allow that project to come to fruition.

Like the Wild Atlantic Way, the Limerick greenway is one of those initiatives that has relevance far beyond international tourism. Indeed, it already seems that Irish people are by far to the fore in enjoying these routes.

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As technology and the pandemic change the nature of work and, as a consequence, the nature and function of our towns and cities, it may be appropriate to keep a sharper weather eye on changes in our urban and suburban landscapes. 

That discussions around repurposing the ESB plant on Cork’s Marina have opened suggests that it is never too early to try to imagine greenways through our towns and cities. Great work is being done, like the proposed Lee river walk, but there are few better ways to enrich a community’s environment than by designing safe, pleasant places to walk, run, or cycle away the cares of the day.