In Loughshinny, council wants people to walk to planned new playground, but says building good footpaths isn’t feasible

Each car that roared south along the R128 from Skerries sent shudders through the few pedestrians who braved the sliver of pathway on Monday afternoon.

Fixed to the gate at the end of every household’s driveway was a mirror to reflect oncoming traffic.

The speed limit was 80 km per hour, said a sign just north of the Yacht Bar, which sits at a crossroads, which sends motorists south to Rush, west to Baldungan, or east to Loughshinny.

While the traffic that travelled north and south tended to be cars and buses, most of the vehicles that rumbled east and west were tractors or lorries.

It was a road that demanded everyone to practice a good deal of caution, especially those walking, because its footpaths were quite fragmented.

On the road leading down towards Lougshinny, there was a long footpath on the northern side. But not the south.

Similarly, on the R128 up to Skerries, there was a small piece of pathway, about 50m long on the west side, and a long thin one on the east, stretching for almost 330m before it ends at a bus stop.

Locals have been campaigning for more than 20 years in some cases to extend the paths and make the road safer, said Robert Kelly, the chairperson of the Lougshinny Community Association on Monday. “We feel like we’ve been talking about safety as our number one issue, and we feel like a neglected village.”

The village is in dire need of a proper pedestrian connection to Skerries, says Labour Councillor Brendan Ryan. “The address for Loughshinny is ‘Loughshinny, Skerries,’ and it is absolutely unbelievable that there is no safe means of pedestrians walking that distance.”

Locals have staged protests, he said, asking the council for improved paths to help children in Brendan’s National School walk to and from their homes.

The lack of decent footpaths has led to so many unnecessary car journeys, he says. “Even the daily commute to school. There’s no option for the kids to walk or cycle to school in a safe manner.”

Last year, there was some hope among locals that the council might finally alleviate this stress.

In November 2025, the council completed an active travel feasibility study on these footpaths just outside the coastal village.

But, while it recommended some traffic-calming measures and shared surfaces to be used by vehicles and active travel users, its main conclusion was that any new pathways would be too costly and time consuming, as they would necessitate the purchase of lands from private homeowners.

The council’s plan to build a new playground in Loughshinny has, again though, focused attention on the safety of getting around there without a car.

It’s not a big ask to keep the village safe, Kelly says. “We feel like we’re being ignored on something reasonable like a playground. How are kids meant to walk to a playground if it’s cut off?”

Not feasible

Fingal’s Active Travel Unit looked at existing footpaths and crossing points in the Loughshinny area, according to the feasibility study.

It was completed in-house by a “competent engineering team with a track record in the delivery of active travel infrastructure”, a council spokesperson said on Tuesday.

The report looked at three specific areas around Loughshinny: the road east to the harbour from the R128, and the road west to Baldongan, as well as the one that goes north to Skerries, it says.

The road towards the harbour was very narrow, and it wouldn’t be feasible to provide separate active travel infrastructure by reallocating road space, the report said.

They could carry out possible interventions, like traffic-calming measures or the implementation of shared surfaces to be used by motorists and active travel users, it says.

But implementing any particular measure would require further investigation, and would cost an estimated €1 million, it says.

Building segregated facilities would necessitate a compulsory purchase of sections of front gardens from private homeowners, it said. “[And] so would likely take a significant amount of time and money.”

Meanwhile, the report similarly concluded that due to the geometry of the road up to Skerries and its traffic flow, it would not be appropriate to provide any active travel facilities within the current carriageway.

Again, these interventions would require acquiring lands along the length of the road, it says. “This would take a significant amount of time and would likely be of significant cost.”

The price would be somewhere in the region of €3 million, because there are bridge culverts and drainage in this area that would need upgrading, it says.

It may not be necessary to compulsorily purchase land, however, said Ryan, the Labour councillor, on Tuesday. “According to the residents, they’ve approached some landowners who would be willing to play ball,” he said.

Paths, play and parking

On the western side of the R128, a sign had been mounted to a fence that wrapped around the large grassy park outside the Bartra Lougshinny Residential Nursing Home.

It was a planning notice, informing passers-by that Fingal County Council intends to seek permission to develop a public play space on the site.

The council had launched its public consultation last Wednesday, 15 April, according to the council’s website.

But, while local councillors welcomed the proposed design when it was presented to the Balbriggan/Rush-Lusk/Swords area committee meeting on 9 April, they were worried about how accessible this play space would be both for pedestrians and for motorists, as the plan only provides a single car parking space.

The council would need to re-evaluate the need for proper access by foot to a facility like this, said Ryan, the councillor, at the meeting.

The new proposed design would include an uncontrolled crossing, Oliver Hoey, Fingal’s executive parks superintendent said.

There would also be a new footpath, which leads up to the nursing home’s entrance, and which allows users to access another path within the site to reach the bus stop, he said.

With the provision of the playground, the council is trying to encourage active travel, Hoey said.

The feasibility report, however, cast doubts on whether footpaths could be provided on the road as it continues past the nursing home and out towards Baldongan.

These too would require the acquisition of lands, it said. “Works along this section are estimated to be approximately €2.5 million for land acquisition and construction.”

One issue is that the road includes a railway bridge, it says. “Any intervention would require a Railway Order and the cooperation of Irish Rail.”

The timeline for works to the bridge would likely be lengthy, it said, and would cost somewhere in the vicinity of €1 million.

What next?

While the active travel feasibility study didn’t provide the desired outcome for locals, there are still other ways to improve the footpaths in the area, says Ryan.

Arguably, this shouldn’t be categorised as an active travel project, he says. “There are constraints in active travel.”

They are funded by the Department of Transport, he says. “And basically they identify kind of particular pieces of infrastructure that are required, and they have certain criteria.”

This should be handled by Fingal’s Strategic Infrastructure Department instead as a major project separate from active travel funding. “So that would be with the council’s own money. In that sense, we need to look beyond active travel, and in my view, as an infrastructure project.”

It is “shameful” that there isn’t a safe pedestrian link from Loughshinny to Skerries, he says. “Council officials have got to accept that that has to be a priority in some way.”

Fingal County Council wouldn’t comment on whether it would investigate any other measures to improve active travel in the area while it is making plans for the new playground.

The Lougshinny Community Association have written to the National Transport Authority and the Minister for Transport, and they do intend to keep engaging with the council, says Kelly. 

“But ultimately, if we’re honest with ourselves, a protest action is not out of the question, which, at this stage, we really have to consider,” he said.