Monaghan County Council is racing ahead in playing its part in the delivery of a major and highly-anticipated cross-border greenway while ABC Council has been simply standing about and “scratching itself”.
That the was the opinion of one local elected representative, who has said he is both “deeply disappointed and angry” at the lack of progress here and called for a full review.
The works form part of the Ulster Canal Greenway and have been on the cards for many years, with the two respective councils involved in delivering the projects within their own jurisdictions and connecting at the border.
The Ulster Canal Greenway, according to Councillor Thomas O’Hanlon, has been “an outstanding success”.
The planned Middletown to Smithboro section was, according to the SDLP representative, once described by ABC council as “a signature cross-border project, and a section that was pivotable to the success of the wider Ulster Canal Greenway network”.
Looking to progress on the other side of the border, Councillor O’Hanlon compared that to efforts by ABC Council to drive it forward.
“Just last week, our partners in the project in Monaghan County Council moved forward with the delivery of their section of the project with the appointment of a contractor, not out of spite, but because of our failures,” he told October’s monthly meeting of ABC Council.
“Meanwhile, on this side of the border, the council stands scratching itself as we move the project back to stage zero in our capital plan. We’re now sitting looking at what could have been and what should have been. I have to say, I am deeply disappointed and indeed angry.
“We have been left behind. We have missed out on a major opportunity for the area and, quite frankly, local people have been badly let down and this time I can’t blame Stormont.
“Nobody is suggesting there weren’t challenges. The last paper brought to members highlighted landowner issues and the complexities around land acquisition. But what I struggle to understand is how a project that had seen so many years of work, extensive negotiations with landowners, ended up with the wheels completely coming off.”
Councillor O’Hanlon was directed by Lord Mayor Mary O’Dowd to continue his train of thought in ‘confidential business’ due to the nature of what he was raising.
But after a very brief interlude, he returned to his concerns and to demand answers and renewed action.
“When I sought an update from officers, I was advised that, in discussion with colleagues, it became clear that there were a number of factors preventing the project moving forward,” he continued. “Furthermore, I was also advised that some approaches had been made to landowners.
“This completely contradicts what we were told on the official reports to council.
“There are serious questions to be answered as to how we got here, what decisions were taken? Who made the decisions to mothball this signature cross-border project, and what alternatives are being explored and whether more could have been done?”
Councillor O’Hanlon asked for a “full review” of the project to be conducted, to ascertain how it had reached the current position and requesting officers bring back a “detailed planned on the way forward”.
“In that, can I ask that we re-enter into engagement with the Department for Infrastructure, Monaghan County Council, and explore funding opportunities through the Shared Island unit in the Department of the Taoiseach, and can that report be brought back in due course,” he added.
