Kelly ignored expert advice and gave €4m for greenway during by-election

String of recommended routes ignored by minister in key funding decisions

Alan Kelly is given a friendly push on his bike by his mother-in-law, Mary O'Connor, after turning the first sod of the South Kerry greenway Picture: Don MacMonagle

Environment Minister Alan Kelly ignored expert advice by giving €4 million for a local greenway during the Longford-Westmeath by-election campaign.

He also funded a €1.9 million greenway in his own county of Tipperary, even though it had not made the shortlist of final projects.

Documents obtained by The Sunday Business Post under the Freedom of Information Act show that the shortlist of the ‘Top Ten greenway projects’ drawn up by an expert assessment ...