Community Celebrates official opening of Coillte’s New Mountain Bike Trail in the Ballyhouras
Over 100 people attend opening & family fun day
Over 100 members of the public and local community groups gathered at Coillte’s Ballhoura Mountain Bike Trail on Saturday 25th August for the official opening of the latest mountain bike trail in the complex. . The new trail was funded by the community development fund of the Castlepook Wind Farm a joint venture between Coillte and ESB.
To celebrate the opening of the new trail, Coillte hosted a free family fun day for all the community. Activities kicked off with the opening of the trail at 10:30am with the ribbon being cut by Kevin O’Keeffe and Niall Collins T.D.s. Free mountain bike hire was available throughout the morning for visitors and refreshments and ice cream was also on hand; particularly welcome for those completing the mountain bike trails. The mountain bikes were generously supplied by the Ballyhoura Trailriders who operate a mountain bike rental and shop at the trailhead of the 92km Ballyhoura mountain bike tracks.
Local community groups were also present at the opening including Ballyhoura Development, a community led local development company working to support communities, families, individuals and business, the Ballyhoura Bears, a locally based walking club and Ballyhoura Heritage & Environment who promote and engage in protecting the countryside and rural recreation environments.
Speaking at the event Pat Neville, Communications Manager with Coillte said “We are absolutely delighted that so many of the community were able to join us for the official opening of the new mountain bike trail in the Ballyhouras. We hope that this new trail will be a great addition to the existing recreational facilities here and that it will be enjoyed by locals as well as visitors from far and wide. We really want to thank the community for their engagement, enthusiasm and support and look forward to the new trail becoming a key part of the Ballyhoura complex.”
About Coillte
Coillte is a commercial forestry company, owned by the State, that manages approximately 7% of the country’s land. Coillte operate three strong businesses from this land – their core forestry business, a wood panels manufacturing business MEDITE SMARTPLY and a land solutions business. Coillte export to over 30 countries worldwide and in the financial year 31 December 2017 generated EBITDA of €85.2 million. Coillte’s vision is to be the best forestry and land solutions company in Europe. To find out more visit www.coillte.ie
Kealon Collins; Mark Britton, Ballyhoura Environment & Heritage; Niall Collins, T.D.; Aidan Gleeson, Ballyhoura Development Group; Michael O Connor, Coillte Land Solutions/Castlepook Power DAC;
