Woman was almost struck when car mounted footpath

A councillor has called for a new walkway to be installed along the N84 Kilmaine Road in Ballinrobe.

Fine Gael Cllr Michael Burke said he understood that the funding was to be made available for the project this year, along with ten others around the county, but was informed over the past fortnight that it will be pushed back to 2025. He said there was almost an accident on the bridge, which is adjacent to the Railway Inn Hotel.

“A lady was walking along the footpath and a car mounted the footpath," Cllr Burke told a meeting of Claremorris-Swinford Municipal District. "She was extremely lucky that she wasn’t hit. There’s a pole there and there are wheelchair users that go down there. 

“The side of the hotel is a very busy entrance into a major wood industry. I would propose that some sort of safety bollards are put along there to make it safer. It’s not going to solve the problem.”

Fianna Fáil Cllr Damien Ryan supported the proposal, noting that there is a lot of pedestrian activity in the location.