The message outside County Hall in Dundalk from Cooley landowners, farmers and residents last Friday morning was loud and clear. ‘No to Greenway’ ‘Hands off my Property’ ‘My Property. My Rights. My Choice. No CPO’ ‘Greenways with consent. Not Compulsion’ read just a selection of the hundreds of signs on show as a large crowd welcomed a convoy of tractors and vehicles, who had travelled to Dundalk from Cooley to hand deliver petitions and submissions, objecting to the proposed Dundalk Bay to Carlingford Greenway which will connect with the existing Carlingford Lough Greenway. This will lead to a continuous cross-border greenway from Dundalk to Newry.
The project is being delivered by Louth County Council with the support of Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII) and is currently at Phase 2 Option Selection, which involves the development and assessment of these feasible Route Corridor Options to ultimately determine a Preferred Route Corridor.
Members of the public were invited to make submissions about the project with the closing date extended to September 6th having originally been due to close at the end of July. And the people of Cooley answered that invitation with over 1300 submissions delivered to County Hall as well as a petition with over 2300 signatures stating their opposition to the planned Greenway.
Speaking to the Dundalk Leader on Friday morning, one of the protestors Audrey Christmas, stated that the people of Cooley were making their voices heard and letting those in power know that they will not be bullied.
“We only heard about this in June and it’s unbelievable that farmers and landowners like myself are being told that there could be a greenway put on our land. I don’t think anybody would be happy if somebody put a greenway through their back garden and we are here to tell Louth County Council that we are completely against this project.
“There are so many issues we have with this. There is the issue of litter. There is the issue of security. I have seen the suggested options and one of the proposed routes is close to a secondary school. Will our kids be safe?,” asked Audrey.
Another landowner from Cooley, Gerard McGreehan, was also vociferous in his opposition for the project.
“I’ve been CPO’d twice by Louth County Council already and I can tell you it won’t happen a third time (A CPO or Compulsory Purchase Order allows acquiring authorities like local authorities, to take land & property without the consent of the owner and provide compensation for this. The CPO is often used to allow a public infrastructure project to go ahead) We only found out about this like everybody else a few months ago and nobody from Cooley wants this. We are here today to let people know that and we hope sense will prevail,” he stated.
Outside County Hall Louth County Council Cathaoirleach Kevin Callan and Fianna Fáil councillor Andrea McKevitt met protestors and took the petitions and submissions from them before delivering them inside County Hall.
Sinn Fein TD Ruairí Ó Murchú was outside County Hall as the protestors delivered their submissions and petition and said he welcomed the fact that people had utilised their democratic right to voice their concerns.
“It’s good to see democracy in action and I applaud the people of Cooley for utilising their democratic right to make their voices heard. There is no doubt mistakes have been made in the way this project was proposed and a lot of people have their backs up now and are very angry about proposed routes which may or may not ultimately affect them.
We absolutely cannot let farmers land be split in two and I have already brought this issue up with Minister for Agriculture Charlie McConalogue. Louth County Council and the TII are going to have to come up with a route that will keep the majority of Cooley happy and if they can’t do that I’m not sure if this can happen,” stated Ó Murchú.
We need to make sure all submissions are read and that all concerned voices are listened to. There are clear land owner issues at play here. I know of somebody who has bought a piece of land for €22,000 and if he is getting that land CPO’d and being offered €7,000 for it, in no way, shape or form is that right. I will say we are at the very early stages of this process and nothing is set in stone yet. Submissions will be accepted until this Friday, so if anybody else has any concerns they need to have their voices heard,” stated the Sinn Fein TD.
Acknowledging the delivery of the submissions and petition, Louth County Council said they welcomed the feedback and that it would be used to assist the design team in determining the preferred route corridor.
“Louth County Council, with the support of Transport Infrastructure Ireland, is developing proposals for the Dundalk Bay to Carlingford Greenway project and the period for public submissions closes on Friday September 6th.
“Louth County Council acknowledges all submissions made during the non-statutory process for the proposed Carlingford to Dundalk Greenway, including those which have been delivered to County Hall today, Friday 30th August 2024.
“Louth County Council welcomes this public feedback, as it will be used to assist the design team in determining the Preferred Route Corridor which will be presented at the Third Public Consultation, envisaged to take place later this year.
“The council extended the original closing date for submissions by five weeks to Friday 6th September 2024 and has made drawings and brochures available on the dedicated project website www.dundalkcarlingfordgreenway.ie which are available for viewing by the general public,” read the statement.
