Robbie Gallagher (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire go dtí an Teach. I thank the Minister, Deputy Ring, for taking time from his schedule to be here. Rossmore Forest Park is a national park located on the outskirts of Monaghan town. It is a huge, fantastic facility. It stretches across more than 320 ha of forest.It has been used primarily for recreation purposes as there are many beautiful trails and walks through it. There is also a lake there. Recently a new play park and a giant trail were developed, which have proven very attractive to locals and visitors alike. This park has serious potential to become not just an attraction in County Monaghan but a regional attraction but it needs to be developed further. With that in mind, Cycling Ireland and Emyvale Cycling Club have approached Monaghan County Council with a view to providing cycling infrastructure within the confines of Rossmore Forest Park. The project they have in mind is the creation of a 2.5 km family cycle route which is completely off-road. Cycling on the open road is not a very attractive option for beginners or children. The proposal is for a completely off-road track that would be very safe.

As the Minister knows, cycling has become very popular in this country. Many more people are cycling now, which is great to see, particularly given the health benefits of physical exercise. The problem in Monaghan is that we do not have proper facilities for cyclists to learn how to cycle safely. Therefore, an application has been forwarded by Monaghan County Council to the Minister's Department for funding under the outdoor recreation infrastructure scheme. This project in Monaghan town is very much needed and I hope the Minister will look upon the application in a favourable light. Monaghan has many fine attractions apart from the forest park to which I have referred. We also have the Castle Leslie estate in Glaslough, Lough Muckno in Castleblayney and the Patrick Kavanagh Centre in Inniskeen. Most people would agree that Monaghan, like other parts of the country, needs to see an economic benefit from tourism which it has not enjoyed to date. We have many fine attractions and we need to build on them. This project involving Cycling Ireland and Emyvale Cycling Club represents a first step in the development of a cycling attraction within Rossmore Forest Park. Cycling Ireland has ambitions to develop further cycling attractions within the park. I urge the Minister to provide funding for the first step in the development of a facility that would be both a local and regional attraction, something that is very much needed in County Monaghan.