In case anyone doubted it, this SBP piece shows that Kelly is just the latest in a line of Labour Party stroke politicians, just as rotten as James Reilly, Big Phil, other assorted blueshirts and the FF crowd notably John ODonoghue (every crossroads in his Kerry constituency seems to have a building put up with the generosity of the rest of us). Disappointing, but hardly surprising. Politics will never change here. Kelly ignored expert advice and gave €4m for greenway during by-election 03:55, 30 November 2014 by Michael Brennan Alan Kelly is given a friendly push on his bike by his mother-in-law, Mary OConnor, after turning the first sod of the South Kerry greenway. Picture: Don MacMonagle Environment Minister Alan Kelly ignored expert advice by giving €4 million for a local greenway during the Longford-Westmeath by-election campaign. He also funded a €1.9 million greenway in his own county of Tipperary, even though it had not made the shortlist of final projects. Documents obtained by The Sunday Business Post under the Freedom of Information Act show that the shortlist of the ‘Top Ten greenway projects’ drawn up by an expert assessment team was largely ignored by Kelly. As Minister of State for Transport, he was told by the team that the Athlone to Mullingar greenway project would “not be a tourism attraction in its own right” without the full Dublin to Galway greenway being built and would not have “enough local demand to warrant development of its own”. It did not include the project on its shortlist. But Kelly turned up on a bike at Athlone castle to announce €4 million in funding for the project in the middle of last May’s Longford-Westmeath by-election campaign. He was accompanied by Labour’s by-election candidate Denis Leonard, who was not elected. Kelly also announced €700,000 in funding for another greenway along the Royal Canal in Westmeath on the same day. It was not on the shortlist and there are no records of it being even examined by the assessment team. The news has been greeted with disappointment by Fine Gael backbenchers in the constituencies with high-scoring greenways which missed out. Before the elections, Kelly had been faced with huge demand for funding for greenways from councils, following the success of the Great Western Greenway in Mayo. He did not have the funds for all 38 proposed greenways, so an independent assessment team was set up to find out which had the potential to be “world class trip attractors” for tourists. It included officials from Fáilte Ireland, the National Transport Authority and officials from the department’s sustainable transport division. The team gave marks out of 100 to each greenway project and came up with a ‘Top Ten’ shortlist. Kelly did provide €5.4 million in funding for two priority projects. These were the spectacular coastal greenway along the old Great Southern railway line to Caherciveen in Kerry and the Galway city to Moycullen greenway. But Kelly abandoned the detailed scoring system when he managed to secure another €10 million for greenways from the stimulus fund in the run up to the local, European and Dáil by-elections last May. He announced funding for 11 new greenways but only one of them had been on the “Top Ten” shortlist. The Clonmel to Carrick-on-Suir greenway had been ranked 14th out of the 38 proposed greenway projects. The assessment team noted that there was “concern over flooding in the area” from the river Suir and said that there were significant challenges “especially in relation to safety and deliverability”. “These would need to be overcome before funding could be provided,” it said. Kelly awarded €1.9 million to the project . Other low-ranking greenway projects which got funding last May were: The Arthur’s Way greenway between Leixlip, Celbridge and Oughterard in Kildare was ranked in 26th place. The assessment team said that 30 per cent of the route was on the road and that there was “not enough emphasis on quality”. Kelly awarded it €311,000. The 5km section of the West Clare Greenway outside Ennis was ranked in 33rd place. The assessment team said the phase being proposed was “very short and “there is nothing particularly scenic or spectacular about the long term plans”. It added: “the application doesn’t represent the project well”. Kelly awarded it €400,000. The Boyle to Lough Key Forest Park greenway in Roscommon, where another Dáil by-election was taking place, had been ranked in 30th place. The assessment team visited it at the special request of then Transport Minister Leo Varadkar. But it said it was “mainly on road”. Kelly awarded €400,000 to the project, which was recently launched by Taoiseach Enda Kenny. The Patrickswell to Limerick City greenway had been ranked in 34th place. The assessment team said it was for urban cycling only, not part of the national cycle network and “not adhering to criteria at any level. Kelly awarded it €420,000. The two projects which had received the highest scoring ratings – a greenway in Cork Harbour and a greenway in Blessington in Wicklow – were not funded. Fine Gael Wicklow TD Andrew Doyle said he was extremely disappointed with the outcome. “I felt the Blessington greenway was ideally suited to the criteria that were set down. It was a project that was shovel-ready,” he said. Fine Gael Carlow-Kilkenny TD Pat Deering also expressed disappointment that the greenway along the River Barrow in Carlow, which received the fourth-highest score, had also missed out. “There’s a lot of work being done in Carlow town to improve tourism and we felt it would have been a good attraction,” he said. The Sunday Business Post asked Kelly if he had funded the Athlone to Mullingar greenway purely to improve the chance of a government candidate winning in the Longford-Westmeath by-election and if he had selected the Clonmel to Carrick-on-Suir greenway because it was located in his own county. A spokesman for Kelly said the €10 million in funding for greenways last May had been allocated “on the basis of timescales, geographical distribution, commencing the Dublin-Galway cycle way and the ability to be completed quickly”. But one of the projects funded by Kelly last May was the Kilmeaden to Bilberry section of the greenway on the old Waterford-Dungarvan railway line. The assessment team said it could not be delivered in the proposed timescale due to a legal case on the route. ..... The top ten greenways selected by the independent assessment team South Kerry greenway – funded Galway to Moycullen greenway – funded Monasteries of the Moy greenway in Mayo – funded Cork Harbour greenway – not funded Broadmeadow way greenway in Fingal – not funded Blessington greenway in Wicklow – not funded Sligo greenway – not funded Leitrim greenway – not funded Clifden to Letterfrack greenway in Galway – not funded River Barrow greenway in Carlow – not funded
Posted on: Sun, 30 Nov 2014 01:06:14 +0000
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