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 The Newport to Mulranny section of the Great Western Greenway, Co. Mayo was last week honoured as the Irish winner of this year’s “European Destination of Excellence” (EDEN) – an EU-wide competition designed to encourage and promote a more sustainable form of tourism development.
Following a shortlisting of finalists – the Arigna Mining Experience, Co. Roscommon and the Lough Boora Lakelands, Co. Offaly – the regeneration of Newport to Mulranny’s old Railway Heritage to become Ireland’s longest off road cycle track was announced as the ultimate winner by Fáilte Ireland in May.
The focus of the competition in 2011 was on the regeneration of physical sites. In addition to the regeneration of the railway itself into a greenway, the former Railway Hotel was restored as the Mulranny Park Hotel, in a project that also saw the restoration of the Causeway and the looped walk.
The adjudicators pointed to the manner in which Mulranny Tourism have developed a number of other initiatives on the back of the Greenway, as being particularly innovative projects which have captured the imagination of the tourist. These include:
- a local food initiative called ‘Gourmet Greenway’
- a Facebook page for the rare Mulranny Old Irish Goat
Speaking at the ceremony, Michael Ring T.D., Minister of State at the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport, emphasised;
“I am delighted to be here today to celebrate what is a culmination of a lot of hard work and endeavour from many people across the community and local and national agencies. The Great Western Greenway is a perfect example of the type of innovative project which this country needs for a sustained economic recovery. This project is now generating extra visitors, revenues and jobs for County Mayo.
“This new use of the former Newport to Mulranny railway line is just what we are looking for in tourism and is a classic example of taking an underused local asset, looking at it in a new way and exploiting its full potential for the betterment of the local community and economy. I would like to commend all those involved in the project – they have set an example for other parts of the country to emulate. We can now look forward to the official opening of the Westport to Achill section later this month.”
Also speaking at the award ceremony, Mr Paddy Mathews, Manager of Fáilte Ireland’s Environment Unit, stressed the benefits of the EDEN competition;
“This competition further raises our profile as an environmentally friendly destination at a European level. In Irish tourism, a green environment is not an add-on but a key business asset. The Great Western Greenway is a worthy winner of the EDEN competition, proving that you can become commercially viable while maintaining your green credentials at the same time.”
Image credits; Michael Ring T.D., Minister of State at the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport and Fiona Monaghan, Head of Operations, Fáilte Ireland in the West present Sean Carolan of Mulranny Tourism with the 2011 EDEN Certificate Story and Image from Failte Ireland.ie
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