The Royal Canal Greenway is to be extended from the 12th
Lock in west Dublin to Leixlip in Co Kildare and the National Velodrome in
Dublin is also set to go ahead, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has said.
Fine Gael has given the commitment that the greenway
extension and velodrome will proceed despite the change in Government that is
about to happen.
While the party is in Government at present, with Leo
Varadkar as Taoiseach, a deal has been formulated that would see Fine Gael go
into coalition with Fianna Fail and the Green Party, once the party memberships
agree.
If the three-way coalition goes ahead, Micheál Martin
(FF) would become Taoiseach for the first 2½ years of what could be a five-year
coalition.
However, in a letter to constituents Varadkar has listed
a range of projects in the Dublin 15 and Dublin 7 areas that he says will take
place despite the change of government.
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They include a number of school projects and transport infrastructure, with the velodrome on the National Sports Campus in Abbotstown and Royal Canal Greenaway extension from the 12th Lock to Leixlip also included.
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The extension of the greenway, over a distance of about
10km, was soon expected to be brought to a public consultation phase by Fingal
County Council.
However, no timeline has been offered for progress on the
National Velodrome, which has been promised for well over a decade.
Construction of the track has been “imminent” for about three years.
In a letter to constituents, Varadkar said while the
Covid19 pandemic had caused a serious economic shock in the country and while
he was moving on as Taoiseach, the projects he listed would still go ahead.
“Due to the high regard in which Ireland is now held
internationally and the healthy state of the national finances we are able to
borrow on the international markets at a low cost to protect people and
businesses and protect the economy,” he said.
“This is in stark contrast to the great recession which
we faced a decade ago when we were shut out from the financial markets and list
the confidence of the European institutions
“As a result, the many projects that are underway locally are not in jeopardy and will continue to be delivered."
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