Council to consider Shared Island Unit grant offer

Carlingford Lough Greenway. Pic: carlingfordloughgreenway.ie

A €1.5m grant from the Shared Island Fund has been officially offered to a council to complete a major cross-border greenway project.

A letter of offer from the Republic of Ireland’s department of transport is to be considered by Newry, Mourne and Down District Council (NMDDC) elected reps on Monday (April 15) with just under nine months to draw down the cash for the Carlingford Lough Greenway project.

The letter from the department’s principal officer, reads: “In order to ensure the completion of the project, I can confirm that a capital grant will be made available to NMDDC for an amount of up to €1.5m, this grant will be available to claim in the period ending 31 December 2024.”

It adds: “Funding has been awarded to NMDDC to ensure that the capital works programme on the route located in Northern Ireland will be completed following the expiry of the INTERREG funding programme at the end of 2023.

“Funding is required to facilitate the design and construction of approx 1.6km boardwalk structure that will run adjacent to the Fathom Line Road.”

The Carlingford Lough Greenway opened in 2018 in Newry and the scenic stretch of land along the edge of the Newry Ship Canal and Clanrye River is used by pedestrians and cyclists.

The initial greenway project was funded by the European Union INTERREG VA programme managed by SEUPB up to December 2023.

The Shared Island Unit grant has been provided with the objective of creating an island wide greenway network linking the Atlantic coast with the eastern seaboard across the border region.