Walkers hit obstacles on Limerick `rail trail' plan

WALKERS using a new trail along a three-mile stretch of the abandoned Limerick-Tralee railway line have claimed that obstacles…

WALKERS using a new trail along a three-mile stretch of the abandoned Limerick-Tralee railway line have claimed that obstacles have been put up along the trail.

Some local landowners, who have formed the Railway Residents Committee, are campaigning against the "Great Southern Trail", fearing that walkers on the route would trespass on their lands and interfere with their rights to privacy.

Last weekend, walkers on the route had to divert to a nearby public road to avoid two obstacles and a trench.

This section of the old railway line has been cleaned up at a cost of £25,000 using a summer jobs scheme for students.

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The Great Southern Trail Action Group aims to develop 80 kilometres of the old Limerick/Tralee line as a walking or cycling route for local people and tourists alike. The project would cost over £500,000 to complete. A development company was set up last year with the aim of involving all interested parties

"Concerns among adjoining landowners regarding security, privacy and care of property will be addressed in every way possible", a spokesman said.

Frank McDonald

Frank McDonald

Frank McDonald, a contributor to The Irish Times, is the newspaper's former environment editor