THE LONGFORD BRANCH
After 41 years of service to Longford Town and County the swimming pool, which was built on the site of Longford Canal Harbour has closed its doors. A new pool built at Longford Mall Complex has now opened and we hope it will give as good a service to the people of Longford.

The way is now clear for the reopening of the Harbour which was closed in 1958 at the behest of Longford UDC. It is now up to the present Town Council to honour its commitment to reopen the Harbour. Their first priority will be to contact Iarnród Éireann about a new swing rail bridge over the reinstated line of the canal west of Longford Station. The Town Council, owners of the canal from Market Square to Churchlands Bridge, will also have to contact Waterways Ireland with regard to transferring back to them this length of the canal so that the whole Longford Branch line can be restored sooner rather than later. There can be no doubt that the reopening of the Branch would be a great boost to the tourism potential of Longford Town which would come from the Shannon and Erne catchment areas.

Tourism Infrastructure Funding for Longford: On 13th September it was announced that Longford County Council is to receive a grant of €82,800 from the Government’s Tourism Infrastructure Fund. The fund targets the provision of facilities such as walking and cycling routes, jetties and moorings, angling stands and access paths to key areas of environmental and scenic interest. It is understood that the money will be used for the development of the walking route along the canal and thereby attract more tourists to the area. We of the Longford Branch of the RCAG hope that Waterways Ireland will soon start restoring the branch line so that we can avail fully of the grant.

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