05/05/2026
Today marked the official opening of the Saunders Pedestrian–Cycle Bridge in Mullingar, by Transport Minister Darragh O'Brien. The €3 million project, which connects key residential areas, was opened alongside local officials, including Deputy Robert Troy, Cllr Aoife Davitt, Cllr. Mick Dollard, Cllr. Ken Glynn, Cllr. Alfie Devine and Cllr. Bill Collentine.
Thanks to Cllr. Ken Glynn, an invite to the ceremony was extended to Colin Watters, Ronan Casey and John Nooney, but unfortunately only Colin could attend.
We all know that the bridge should have been provided before the Holy Family National School and new housing developments on the Ardmore Road were constructed. But hopefully we can learn that these developments cannot proceed in future, if safe infrastructure isn't in place or at least built at the same time.
The new fully accessible bridge provides a high‑quality crossing for pedestrians and cyclists, and while there are issues on the Town side with the way gates open towards the road. Westmeath County Council have told us that they will look into it.
This landmark project was delivered through close collaboration between Westmeath County Council, the Department of Transport, the NTA, Design ID Consulting, Murphy International Ltd. and local stakeholders, so all should be commended, but in future we really need to speed up the process for delivery of key infrastructure around Town.
