Trails vs factories: New data exposes contrasting rural strategies in Wicklow and Wexford
The Wicklow PeopleA detailed list of capital projects completed in Wicklow and Wexford over the past five years, at first glance, appears to be a routine administrative disclosure. But a deeper look reveals a story about two neighbouring counties pursuing fundamentally different visions of rural development.
The contrast in the data obtained by local TD Brian Brennan is striking. Officials in Wicklow are building trails, footbridges, biodiversity corridors and community spaces.
Officials in Wexford are backing factories, food production facilities and commercial infrastructure. Both counties operate under the same national schemes, yet the outcomes could not be more different.
The project list in Wicklow reads like a county doubling down on its natural assets.
Under the Outdoor Recreation Infrastructure Scheme (ORIS), dozens of trail upgrades, access improvements and nature-based amenities have been completed.
Wicklow County Council is the lead applicant, project manager or coordinating authority for many of them, working alongside local development groups, community organisations and the County Wicklow Partnership.
In 2021, among the projects completed was the Donard Glens Walking Trails (€7,200), the Wicklow Way Infrastructure Upgrade (€20,000), the Knockananna Walking Loops (€7,840), the Baltinglass Cycle Trails (€8,800) and the Avondale Link in Rathdrum (€18,297).
These projects required council oversight, from planning permissions and environmental assessments to procurement and contractor management.
A signpost directing people to the Wicklow Way.
By 2022, work on the Tinahely Loops (€18,000), Brockagh Forest upgrades (€18,000), the Sean Lenihan Extension in Macreddin (€19,080) and a digitisation project for long‑distance trails (€17,640) had been finished.
Then came the standout investment: the Avonmore Way Link Bridge in Rathdrum, a €392,000 project, one of the largest ORIS allocations in the country. Wicklow County Council was central to this project, coordinating land access, engineering design, environmental compliance and community engagement.
The pattern continues through 2023, 2024 and 2025: footbridge replacements, trail monitoring systems, kayak access points, age‑friendly surfacing, upland trailhead improvements and recreation plans for Lugnaquilla. These projects show that officials see the county’s future in outdoor recreation, tourism and community wellbeing, and that the council has embraced that vision.
A look at CLÁR projects reinforces this. Concentrated in Tinahely, Knockananna, Askinagap and Rathdrum, they include community halls, lighting, car parks, youth facilities and GAA improvements.
While community groups are often the direct applicants, the local authority provides technical support, planning guidance and compliance oversight, ensuring projects meet national funding criteria.
The LEADER programme in Wicklow is broader and more eclectic, but even here the council’s influence is visible.
While LEADER is administered locally by the County Wicklow Partnership, the council collaborates on feasibility studies, biodiversity plans, tourism strategies and public realm concepts. Projects such as the Wicklow Craft Strategy, the Avoca River Catchment Biodiversity Project and the Path Condition Survey of Upland Trails all rely on council expertise and coordination.
In the Town and Village Renewal Scheme (TVRS), the council’s role is even more direct.
Streetscape upgrades in Redcross, Newtownmountkennedy, Blessington and Laragh, as well as remote working hubs in Carnew and Ballinaclash, are council‑led or council‑supported projects. The €225,000 expansion of the Wicklow Town BMX Pump Track required council design, procurement and project management.
Taken together, the Wicklow dataset shows investment in nature, recreation, community infrastructure and place‑making.
The project list in Wexford tells a very different story.
While there is also investment in trails and community spaces, the dominant theme, especially in the LEADER programme, is enterprise. And not small enterprise: There were €200,000 more LEADER awards in the county than in Wicklow, and they are concentrated in manufacturing, food production and commercial expansion.
In 2021 alone, €200,000 was approved for Slaney Precision Ltd, €200,000 for Barron Energy Ltd and €200,000 for the Three Sisters Cruise Company. These are industrial and commercial investments aimed at job creation and economic growth.
The pattern continues in subsequent years. Wexford Cable Industries, Morris Manufacturing, New Ross Needlecraft, Trudie’s Catering Kitchen, O’Neills Dry Cure Bacon Co and Naturally Cordial all received substantial LEADER funding. Many of these projects involve plant upgrades, factory extensions, equipment purchases and production capacity increases.
ORIS projects are more modest than in Wicklow and tend to focus on walking trails, car parks, boardwalks and accessibility improvements rather than large‑scale upland infrastructure. The county’s geography, coastal, lowland and river‑based, shapes its priorities.
The Town and Village Renewal Scheme in Wexford includes public realm improvements, but fewer large‑scale projects than in Wicklow. And there are fewer CLÁR allocations in Wexford, simply because less of the county qualifies as a designated CLÁR area.
The overall picture suggests officials in Wexford are using rural development funding to build businesses, expand manufacturing and strengthen the county’s commercial base.
If the data tells us anything, it is that Wicklow and Wexford are moving in different directions.
In Wicklow, officials are building a rural future rooted in nature, recreation, community and tourism. In Wexford, the powers that be are building a rural future rooted in enterprise, manufacturing, food production and commercial growth.