YOU couldn’t make this up!
A Dublin civil servant has stopped work on a new footpath in Dungloe – despite a 30-year campaign which was APPROVED by the county council….and previously APPROVED for funding by the Department which raised the objection!
Cllr Marie Therese Gallagher says she has been left gobsmacked by the decision; and says she hasn’t a clue why it was taken.
She told Donegal Daily that the Department of Transport refused to allocate funding to the footpath on Caravan Road in Dungloe and no-one can tell her why.
She has also questioned why an official in the department in Dublin singled out this road in Dungloe to object to.
Cllr Gallagher said: “I am furious on behalf of the people who live on this road and for the people of Dungloe who have been fighting to have this footpath completed for decades. Under the proposed scheme individuals and the community had agreed to make a serious contribution to build this footpath.
“This footpath was accepted by the Department under the Community Involvement Scheme, and the department have now singled out this project to object to fund. I would call into question how this decision was reached, by who, and ask what did the people living on this road do on the department to be discriminated against in this matter?
“The first part of the footpath was under construction when this decision was made by a man sitting in an office in Dublin. The Council and the Community had all the work done to have this footpath completed once this funding was available to be drawn down. Now the Caravan Road is back in limbo and we will have to start from scratch to get funding for this project.
“I stongly condemn this decision and objection from Dublin, and will be raising this issue with the Minister. This footpath has to be completed, the people on this road deserve better than to be blatantly discriminated against in this manner.”
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