Important new greenway link opens in Westport

The official opening of the AbbVie Greenway Link Project took place on Friday morning last, marking the completion of a new pedestrian and cycleway path, providing another link from Westport town to the Great Western Greenway.

Cathaoirleach of Westport-Belmullet Municipal District, Cllr Peter Flynn, launched the new section, paying special tribute to AbbVie for its generosity in opening up some of its lands for the project.

Speaking to the Western People, Cllr Flynn stated: “This project would never have happened without the cooperation of AbbVie. The road, as it was, was too narrow to facilitate a footpath and the cycle lane so we needed AbbVie to push their wall and fencing back and are hugely grateful to them for doing so.

“This is an example of the community and council working together to achieve a win-win for both, in that for AbbVie, it is now safer for their employees coming and going to work, and then it is also safer for the wider public, whether visitors or locals, trying to connect up on to the greenway at Attireesh.” 

The Cathaoirleach also thanked the tourism section of Mayo County Council which he said was instrumental in the negotiations with AbbVie and the Department of Community and Rural Development for "making sure the money stayed in situ, because it was nearly seven years since it was approved under the watch of Michael Ring who was the minister at the time".

"It has been a long time in the making, but because of the complexities of the road, it has been worth the wait.” 

He added that while it is not a huge project, it is a really significant one because it makes an area safer where there are huge numbers of workers.