Ireland’s EuroVelo 1 Cycling Route Launched
The Irish section of the Eurovelo 1 Route was officially launched on Thursday, May 18th, in Our Lady’s Island, Co. Wexford.
The launch event marks the culmination of many hours of work at both national and local level in ensuring the installation of dedicated signage along the full route of around 2,350km that passes through 11 counties along Ireland’s Atlantic coast.
Offering cyclists a fully signposted route along predominantly quiet, local and regional roads, Overall, EuroVelo 1, also known as the Atlantic Coast Route, is 11,150km long and runs through Norway, UK, Ireland, France, Spain and Portugal.
EuroVelo is the European cycle route network – comprising of 17 long distance cycle routes passing through and connecting 42 countries. The network is coordinated by the European Cyclists’ Federation (ECF) in cooperation with the individual countries through which the route passes.
Wexford County Council facilitated the launch in the scenic location of Our Lady’s Island, Co Wexford, which marks the start or end of the Irish section of the EuroVelo 1 route.
The event was attended by Minister of State at the Department of Transport, Jack Chambers, Dr. Una May, Sport Ireland CEO, and Ms. Lisa McDonald, Cathaoirleach of the Rosslare Municipal District.
Minister Chambers said:
“The Atlantic Coast Route travels through some of our most iconic landscapes passing through Counties Wexford, Waterford, Cork, Kerry, Limerick, Clare, Galway, Mayo, Sligo, Leitrim and Donegal. This EuroVelo 1 Cycling Route showcases the very best of our coastline and represents a valuable tourism product in attracting both overseas visitors as well as in encouraging domestic visitors to explore our Atlantic Coast.”
Each relevant local authority has ensured that high quality directional signage is available across the route. While some of the 40 sections of the route are on off-road ‘Greenway’ infrastructure, the Department of Transport recognises the value in supporting and promoting a cycling route that primarily relies on our existing quiet, low traffic volume road infrastructure and has invested approximately €800,000 in this project.
This allocation has also been used to fund the development of a dedicated EuroVelo 1 Ireland website which provides navigational and recreational information relating to the 40 sections of the Irish segment of the route. This website will assist in promoting the route to interested cyclists. Sport Ireland had been tasked as the delivery partner for this project with relevant stakeholders including Failte Ireland and the eleven local authorities.
More information on the Irish section of Eurovelo 1 can be found here on the website.