Whistlestop tour of county by Arts, Heritage and Gaeltacht Minister

The Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, Jospeha Madigan, was on a whistlestop tour of south Leitrim last Friday morning in the company of Fine Gael general election candidate, Gerry Reynolds.

First stop was Mohill where the Minister was treated to refreshments at Hunt School Hall and where she was later briefed by the committee regarding their application to re-build the wall around St Mary’s Church of Ireland which is at risk.

After speaking with Rev Linda Frost she was informed that an application was with Leitrim County Council for grant assistance under one of her department’s buildings at risk scheme.

Present for the meeting were cathaoirleach of Leitrim County Council, Cllr Sean McGowan alongside Cllr Enda Stenson and FG local election candidate, Thomas Mulligan.

The local committee of St Mary’s were on hand to outline the concerns of the parishioners regarding the wall. The minister visited the Church afterwards and inspected the wall to see firsthand the issues raised.

Later minister Madigan travelled to Leitrim Village in her role of having responsibility for Waterways Ireland. She, along with Gerry Reynolds, heard from local businessman and publican John Pierce concerns regarding the lack of public mooring spaces around the village which was affecting the tourism potential of the area.

There are also issues with regard to taking in charge some private jetty space and the minister vowed to assist with dialogue between the private developers and Waterways Ireland. Finally the minister viewed the Blueway at Acres Lake, Drumshanbo to see the very successful section which opened last year. The minister went on to view the new extension of the Blueway to the Lough Allen hotel.

On foot of a query from Gerry Reynolds and the minister Waterways Ireland officials confirmed that the new section of the Blueway is due to open at Easter for walkers allowing full connection from Drumshanbo to Leitrim Village.