Campaigners blast delay on Navan-Drogheda greenway

Drogheda and Navan Cycle Groups are in joint protest over delayed Boyne Greenway.

Campaigners say they are tired of waiting for the long-promised Greenway between the two towns. The Greenway is years behind schedule and further delays to the project have the natives frustrated. On Sunday 27th August, Drogheda Cycling Group and their counterparts in the Navan Cycling Initiative held a joint cycle to highlight the slow progress of the Boyne Greenway. The leisurely cycle began at Saint Dominic’s Car Park Linenhall Street Drogheda and finished at Oldbridge estate. The event had a "super" turn out with Senator Pauline O'Reilly joining the two cycling groups. Chairperson of the Drogheda group, Noel Hogan said:

"There is now a two-and-a-half-year delay to this project and we can only hope that the delaying comes to an end soon."

The benefits that greenways have brought to communities all around Ireland prove themselves the importance of the completion of this project. The Boyne Greenway would feature some breath-taking attractions such as Slane Castle, The megalithic tombs of the Boyne Valley and the Battle of the Boyne site which could make this path the “jewel in the crown” of Ireland’s greenway network. In the same month that Athlone celebrated the opening of a brand-new greenway bridge over the River Shannon, Drogheda and Navan have been left waiting again for the development of their greenway. What especially bothers the Drogheda and Navan cycling groups is that towns such as Athlone and Dungarvan are reaping the benefits of cycling tourism while they're missing out.

Noel Hogan said: "It is past time for Meath County Council to pull out all the stops to get this greenway to fruition. The people of Navan and Drogheda deserve no less."