Mr. Morgan Lyne:

It is important to understand that the route of the south Kerry greenway was the first railway that was in private ownership. Kerry County Council said it was an abandoned rail line. It was not. It closed in 1960 and, immediately, the rail tracks and sleepers were taken up and the land was sold back to the landowners. It was therefore back in private ownership. It was part of the farms. In many locations, the rail line was taken away completely. There was no sign of it. People could walk through it without realising it had been a railway at any stage. In other places, houses and farmyards had been built on it. One stretch from Glenbeigh to Mountain Stage runs quite close to the N70. There are four bridges on the N70 that can only take one lane of traffic. Kerry County Council or TII have plans to widen that stretch of road. I was at a public consultation meeting in the Towers Hotel in Glenbeigh where I proposed that the road be widened and the greenway put parallel to it. That is done in many parts of Europe. It is done in the UK. I was told by a council engineer that would never happen.

We did put proposals forward. I stress that I am not opposed to greenways, but I am totally opposed to the way it is being done, where land is being severed. In one location, I have six acres on the offside of the greenway. I have looked for accommodation works. An engineer working on my behalf has done drawings, which cost me €1,500. Kerry County Council said a roadway would not work there because it is a steep embankment.