Councillor calls Ballybofey Main Street footpath 'a disgrace'

At the Lifford-Stranorlar MD meeting this morning, Cllr McGowan called the town centre’s footpaths an ‘absolute disgrace’.

“They're completely useless; they’re the most dangerous footpaths anywhere… and an absolute disgrace. There is a large amount of people, old and young, falling on them.

“With the pay and display money, there’s something like €200,000 sitting in a bank account somewhere that can be spent on the main street in Ballybofey. That money is not to replace government or council money; it’s there on top of it.

“In my opinion, there should be a fund of €300,000 to start lifting slabs from the Bank of Ireland corner… it should be totally redone, or replaced with new slabs.

“McElhinney’s is one of the busiest in Ireland; people are walking in and out coming from Dublin… They’re literally tripping outside the door. Something needs to be done; there is no part of the footpath in Ballybofey Street that is safe.”

Major €4.1 million safety and road reconstruction works on the N15 through Ballybofey began in Late July. Phase 1 will run until the end of November, with work pausing during December and early January to support holiday trading. Phase two will begin in January 2027 and is scheduled to finish by early spring 2027