'Just so disappointing' - Damage to popular Laois bog walk forces closure
Over €1,000 worth of damage has been done to the Abbeyleix Bog Walk
A section of the Abbeyleix Bog Walk has been closed off due to “serious damage” being done to the boardwalk.
The Abbeyleix Bog Walk Project shared the news that part of the Killamuck loop has been closed off to walkers as volunteers look to replace around 30 broken sleepers on the bog bridge between Coleman’s Road junction and the old Killamuck Road entrance.
The group said they are investigating “serious damage” which was caused to the sleepers between 8pm on Monday evening, July 27 and 10am on Tuesday morning, July 28.
Chairperson of the Abbeyleix Bog Walk 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.
The sleepers sit three wide on the boardwalk and all 30 damaged sleepers were in the centre.
“It was done by someone who was aware of the impact. You couldn’t not notice you were causing this level of damage,” Ms Dunne said.
She added that it is easily €1,000 worth of sleepers that need to be replaced.
A witness has come forward who saw a man riding a small horse or pony across the boardwalk late on Monday, despite ponies and horses not being allowed on the boardwalk.
This comes after 25 sleepers on the same loop were reportedly stolen last month.
The group were forced to contact Gardaí after the sleepers on the Killamuck loop disappeared between Thursday evening, June 25 and Monday, June 29.
The cost to replace these stolen sleepers was around €750. At the time of the theft, the group said they were “totally shocked” and additional fundraising would be required to replace the sleepers.
Commenting on this further setback, Ms Dunne said: “It’s very difficult to describe how frustrating this is as people give their own time and expertise completely for free and then find that people just for whatever strange reason cause this level of damage.
“It’s just so disappointing because we had to close that section of the boardwalk for the next couple of days until it’s suitable for people to use again. These sorts of incidents are incredibly challenging to us as a community group.”
She also pointed out how unfair this type of closure is to people who use the boardwalk on a regular basis.
Unfortunately, the Abbeyleix Bog Walk group were unable to get to the bottom of the stolen sleepers and now they must speak to the Gardaí again about this separate incident.
“Thanks to all our supporters who have called in. If anyone else has any more information or saw anything, please contact us,” the group’s Chairperson added.
“This time of year there’s a lot of visitors with the warm weather so we’d hope that if anybody sees anything they think shouldn't be happening, that they would please get in touch straight away.”
Anyone with any information on the damaged sleepers are asked to contact the Abbeyleix Bog Walk volunteers or get in touch by email at [email protected].