Railway houses may be flattened

If the West Clare Railway is to establish a link from Kilrush to Moyasta and then on towards Kilkee, Cross Fine Gael county councillor Gabriel Keating has predicted that houses may have to be flattened and right-of-ways extinguished if the scope of the railway line is to be successfully extended.

At present some houses are built on the old railway line but may have to be demolished if plans to extend the defunct line are put in place.
It was also suggested at Monday’s meeting of Kilrush Electoral Area councillors that the railway will include a link to Doonbeg.
“Down the road the policy would be to bring it to Kilrush, Kilkee and Doonbeg,” Councillor Keating predicted. He then suggested that any issues regarding houses on the line could be easily solved. 
“Right-of-ways have been changed before and houses have been knocked to make way for other projects. It wasn’t an issue in the past and it won’t be in the future,” Councillor Keating maintained.
He is also certain that tourists will flock to Moyasta and the general West Clare area if the railway operates at full throttle.
“People in general are crazy about trains. There’s something about them. Trains attract people to a place. I don’t know is it the smoke or the noise or what it is,” Councillor Keating mused.
He made his comments when suggesting that the local authority, Shannon Development and local tourism bodies provide marketing assistance to the railway project.
In reply, Catherine O’Hara said that the Clare Tourism Forum would help to promote the railway.
This suggestion however was not warmly greeted by Councillor PJ Kelly.
“I’ve a certain amount of doubt if the referred to agencies have an ability to promote anybody but themselves,” the Lissycasey councillor suggested.