Martin Browne (Tipperary, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Will the Deputy propose that we invite the petitioner to appear before the committee early in the new year and put his case? We can invite the Department to appear before us as well in the second session. Is that agreed? Agreed.

Petition No. P00030/23 is "Create a walking and cycling greenway on the closed railway from Sligo to Athenry" from Mr. Brendan Quinn. This petition relates to the closed railway line from Sligo through Collooney to Athenry. The line has been closed for over four decades and is lying idle. People along the route in small towns and villages in the west want to see something happen. The petition has garnered just over 26,000 signatures.

This has been over and back. As we said earlier, we are waiting on Mayo County Council to get back to us because part of its county management plan refers to this petition. It is a disgrace. The recommendation is that we forward a copy of the correspondence from the petitioner to the Department of Transport for comment within 14 days, forward a copy of the correspondence from Galway County Council to the petitioner for comment, send another reminder to Mayo County Council regarding the petition, specifically around MT09 of the county plan as it relates to the petition, and invite the petitioner to appear before the committee at its meeting in January 2024.

The petitioner was among witnesses in the public gallery earlier this year when the issue first came to the attention of the committee. Some Deputies from the area expressed local knowledge. It was one-sided so we said at that meeting that we would invite the petitioner and Deputies from the area to appear before the committee in the new year.