A fundraising page set up to contribute towards replacing a popular walkway near the Battle of the Boyne site in county Meath looks set to surpass its second target of €10,000.
A GoFundMe page was established after fire destroyed 125 metres of the wooden boardwalk, part of the Boyneside Trail, which is beside the Boyne canal and river, late on Thursday night.
Gardaí have begun a criminal damage investigation and it is understood this will include an inquiry into whether the fire was started maliciously.
The blaze, which could be seen from the M1 motorway, produced outrage among local people and politicians and the fundraising page was set up to raise funds to have it fixed as soon as possible.
The damage was assessed by Eddie Phelan, a civil and structural engineer who is a member of the Boyneside Trail Committee.
He said: “The damage was done to a stretch of the boardwalk that starts at The Lock Gate and weaves eastwards towards Drogheda. This was a section that was on stilts out over the water. The structure, the stilts and the boardwalk itself have all been destroyed.”
“The work to reinstate this section of boardwalk will start with removal of the debris, driving new stilts into the riverbed, fitting a new support structure and then construction of a new deck and handrail. The concrete plinth and the road have also been damaged by the fire and will need to be repaired,” he added.
The fundraising target for the GoFundMe page was set at €5,000 but that was reached within 20 hours and it has now been reset to €10,000.
The cost of the works could reach up to €200,000 and the GoFundMe fundsdonations will be presented to the local authorities by The Boyneside Trail Committee; "on behalf the people who love and use the boardwalk and want it reinstated," a spokesperson for the Boyneside Trail Committee said.