Minister of State, Dinny McGinley T.D. has been informed by Minister for Transport, Tourism & Sport, Leo Varadkar, T.D. that a grant of €497,000 has been approved to provide and upgrade rural roads based cycling routes, stretching from Donegal Town to Newtowncunningham, covering a distance of 195 kilometres.
This route goes through some of the County’s most attractive landscape and links a large number of Towns along the way.
Minister McGinley told donegaldaily.com: “not alone will this be of tremendous assistance to the many Donegal people who have taken up cycling as a hobby and sport, but will also attract many cycling enthusiasts to County Donegal.”
“Cycling tourism is increasingly popular around Europe. The Great Western Greenway from Westport-Achill in Mayo, is generating an estimated 140,000 trips per annum, which hugely significant for Mayo’s local economy. Let us hope that the Newtowncunningham-Donegal Town route will be similarly important for our local economy in Donegal.
The announcement has also been welcomed by Deputy Joe McHugh.
“I am pleased that this route has been selected for Government investment. It is one of 16 routes that were selected by the Department of Transport & Tourism, from a group of over 50 proposed projects nationwide.
“I brought Minister Leo Varadkar to Donegal in February, when he participated in discussions with Donegal tourism stakeholders at the Colmcille Winter School in Gartan. Minister Varadkar and the Government are committed to developing Donegal as an engine of national tourism growth.
“This is a good news story for Donegal,” said Deputy McHugh.
Work will be commencing on the project as soon as possible.