Barracks overhaul key to Longford's regeneration plan

A mecca for tourist visitors even in unseasonal climes, the development of a 130km greenway from Maynooth to Clondra has brought with it an upturn in recreational based industry.

Brendan and Madeline Doyle have been very much to the fore of that revival courtesy of their well established running club.

More than a decade on, the pair have built much of their burgeoning business around what is undeniably one of Longford’s key sporting and leisure oriented amenities.

“When we started the Royal Canal Run in 2014 and 2015 it started with around 300 people and now it is up to in or around 850,” said Brendan.

“At the start it had a rough enough surface, but thanks to the likes of Gerry (Warnock) we now have a surface that allowed us this year to have wheelchair participants take part for the first time.”

The husband and wife duo have, in recent times, been working closely with the council’s Longford Sports Partnership in a bid to entice more people of all ages to take up active recreation as not just a pastime but a way of life.

One of those initiatives, dubbed Cycle Right, has seen Brendan and Madeline provide young children with the necessary practical cycle and safety training skills that are needed to reduce carbon footprint levels nationwide.

What the pair are quietly hoping for is progress to be seen inside the confines of what is arguably the county town’s golden panacea-Connolly Barracks.

“A county council at the other end of the country came up with a plan to mark out an area similar to the barracks whereby road safety could be taught and that’s what we would love to do-have a marked out road system within a safe environment,” he said.

“When we go into a school, we put down cones and chalk to try and mimic a road layout. It can be hard for them (pupils) to understand at times, so if there was an environment where an actual road system could be marked out it, it would be ideal.”
If Brendan’s aspirations concerning Connolly Barracks are pressing, that same sentiment could also be directed towards cycle hire owner Robert Crilly.

The Belfast born father of one opened his Midlands Cycle Hub enterprise in Clondra in June 2021 on the back of Longford County Council and various other State agencies’ ambitious plans to inject new life into the Royal Canal and its surrounding infrastructure.

Just over a year on, Robert is keeping his fingers crossed those plans deliver in reality what they had bullishly set out on paper.

“There was talk then of them (Council) linking various bike hire shops up along the way and I thought I would go for it and to be honest it has been great,” he said, adding his own footfall levels had increased owing to a rise in tourists both domestically and from overseas.

In the long term, Robert told of his desire to open a bike hire shop once work on Connolly Barracks gets underway in a bid to link it back to the Canal.

For now though, the forward thinking entrepreneur is anxious to see further inroads being made in trying to entice more visitors to a county he believes is on the cusp of something economically transformational.

“I have seen the benefits (of regeneration) but there is a lot of work to do,” he insisted. “There is not enough signage there and there is a lot of talk.

“In fairness to them (Council) there is a company employed in carrying out a feasibility study and they are trying to connect Clondra to Tarmonbarry with all these various walks. There are different ideas and talk but I wouldn’t mind actually seeing them happen.”