Council voices support in Waterford for 'joining the Comeragh Mountains to the sea'

Councillors have supported plans to link the Comeragh Mountains with Bunmahon via a Greenway extension.

Plans to link Crough Wood with Mahon Falls, and to Bunmahon through the Greenway, have been in the works for a number of years, with fresh calls made last week by Comeragh District Councillors to get the development over the line. Cllr Liam Brazil said that the project needs to be completed:  “There is a plan for Crough wood to link to the Waterford Greenway near McGrath’s Cross, and if these extensions were completed, you could say that the Comeragh Mountains has joined the sea, which is something that I think would be fantastic here in the county of Waterford. We have to link the mountain to the sea, and this is the way we have to do it."

"At the moment we have three car parks, one at Mahon falls, one at Mahon bridge and one at McGrath’s Cross, so there’s no reason at all why this couldn’t happen, but we have to do link Crough wood to Mahon falls first," he said. Cllr Catherine Burke supported the idea, adding: “I think that’s where we can see real development in tourism happening in the Comeragh area. Mahon falls is a beautiful spot, as is Crough, as is Bunmahon, but linking those recreational places where people enjoy our beautiful Comeragh area, absolutely that’s where our focus should be."

"As Cllr. Brazil said, 'from the mountain to the sea', that’s what makes Comeragh unique, we’ve got sea and we’ve got the mountain all in the one area. There's real opportunity for tourism here," she said.

Cllr Brazil commended the Comeragh Community Development group, who developed the Crough Wood Walk. The amenity was recently shortlisted for the prestigious RDS Forestry Awards, in the Community Woodland Award Category.

“The benefit to the local economy and the spin-off from Crough Wood is massive" Cllr Brazil said, "and there are a number or local businesses in the tourism sector benefitting in a big way, such as Crough Coffee, Cooney’s Yard and Comeragh Pods."