‘A genuine error’ - Laois bog walk reopens after damage done to boardwalk
Abbeyleix Bog Walk was forced to close earlier this week
A section of the Abbeyleix Bog Walk has now reopened after damage to the boardwalk forced its closure earlier in the week.
The Abbeyleix Bog Project announced on Tuesday, July 28 that part of the Killamuck loop had to be closed off to walkers as volunteers sought to replace around 30 broken sleepers on the bog bridge between Coleman’s Road junction and the old Killamuck Road entrance.
Around €1,000 worth of damage was done to the sleepers between Monday night and Tuesday morning.
Chairperson of the Abbeyleix Bog Project, Fiona Dunne, told the Leinster Express that one of the group’s volunteers and a regular walker at the track noticed that part of the boardwalk was damaged.
Upon inspection, it was found that 30 sleepers were broken.
An appeal for information was issued to the public as the group said they were forced to contact the local Gardaí.
Now, the Abbeyleix Bog Project has shared that the track has reopened to the public after volunteers replaced the damaged sleepers.
In a post on social media, the group said: “ABP are happy to accept that a genuine error of judgement, leading to an unfortunate series of events, was the cause. An apology and an offer to contribute towards the replacement has been accepted.
“Thanks to all for their help and we will now move on.”
In a separate incident last month, 25 sleepers on the same loop were reportedly stolen. The cost to replace these stolen sleepers was around €750.
Gardaí were called to investigate the theft, however, the group’s Chairperson said they did not get to the bottom of this incident.