The Greenway that extends from West Limerick into North Kerry is due to open later this year and will connect the 43km Limerick Greenway, which ends in Abbeyfeale, with Listowel. At the same time, a 17km Greenway will open between Tralee and Fenit.  In order to help communities and businesses in North Kerry and West Limerick to work together to make the most of this oppor-tunity, a comprehensive destination training and networking programme is already underway. This has been made possible through a partnership between North East West Kerry Development (NEWKD) and West Limerick Resources (WLR), who secured substantial LEADER funding for the programme.
“There are a lot of exciting events taking place in West Limerick at the moment,” according to Tina O’Dwyer of The Tourism Space, the company leading the delivery of the programme. “Just this week, we hosted two Leave No Trace Aware-ness Training sessions and had participation from people all the way from Rathkeale to Fenit. One session took place at Abbeyfeale Town Park and we are grateful to Maurice O’Connell and Gerardine O’Brien for hosting the group along with Ali Rae of Gourmet Green who provided a delicious lunch and refreshments.”
Expert trainer Aoibheann Boyle worked with the groups to raise awareness of the Seven Principles of Leave No Trace and how they can be applied to enhance the Greenway experience.
Another element of the programme is a series of Observation Walks that are taking place between the Greenway trailheads and adjacent towns and villages. This gives local people a chance to consider how a visitor might experience the Greenway and how that experience could be improved.
In the past month, highly engaged groups of people took part in the Observation Walks from the Greenway trailheads at Abbeyfeale, Barnagh, Templeglantine, Rathkeale and Newcastle West
“The purpose of these walks was to look at the route and its facilities from the Greenway to the town centre from a visitors perspective. The recording of the observations will serve as a plan of action for the businesses and comm-unities to work with the appropriate council or national bodies into the future,” says Marie Slattery, Engagement Officer with The Tourism Space.
There are further trainings taking place online over the coming weeks.  “The training takes place in perfect timing for the planned opening of the Abbeyfeale to Listowel and Tralee to Fenit Greenway later this year” said Caitriona Scully of West Limerick Resources. “This training programme is open to all. We would be delighted to welcome any person, business or group interested in developing the Greenway visitor experience for the benefit of West Limerick communities” she added.
The Tourism Space is a leading and award-winning Irish tourism consultancy, specialising in enabling people work together to build sustainable outcomes for businesses, communities and destinations.
To register for the programme, visit www.thetourismspace.com/Greenway. For further information, contact info@thetourismspace.com