THE TÁNAISTE AND Minister for Foreign Affairs will chair a meeting in Government Buildings for a local community group aiming to reopen a cliff walk in his Wicklow constituency.

Simon Harris will lead the first meeting of a newly formed ‘Cliff Walk Taskforce’ later this month, which is aiming to relaunch the popular trail stretching from Bray to Greystones.

The cliff walk was closed by Wicklow County Council in 2021 due to a number of landslides along the 7 kilometre-long route.

Talks to reboot the cliff walk have been a burning issue since for the area, and now the Bray People reports that Harrisis to bring the Friends of the Cliff Walk campaign group to the government’s Merrion Street headquarters in Dublin.

According to the paper, agencies including the local council, Fáilte Ireland and Irish Rail will also attend the meeting next Thursday, 13 February.

Harris – who hails from Greystones – told the paper that the task force will drive towards a “swift re-opening” of the cliff walk which will help “sustain the town’s economies”

The inaugural meeting of the taskforce, which will take place at Government Buildings, has been set for Thursday, February 13, and key stakeholders and agencies will include Wicklow County Council, Fáilte Ireland and Irish Rail.

Harris said that in his role as the taskforce chair of the first meeting of the taskforce he “will be asking all relevant agencies and stakeholders to work together to prevent any further setbacks” to reopen the trails.

“I am also keenly aware that as the days get warmer and brighter the need for this Cliff Walk to be operational will become ever more crucial for residents and businesses. I stand ready to do all I can as a TD for Wicklow to drive this reopening,” Harris added.

In a post on the Friends of the Cliff Walk Facebook page, the volunteer group expressed delight that its campaign was picking up speed.

“We’re thrilled to announce that Tánaiste Simon Harris will chair the first meeting of the Cliff Walk Taskforce next week! This is a huge step forward in our mission to reopen the Bray to Greystones Cliff Walk,” one of the group’s senior volunteers said when announcing the plan.

The post added that the meeting coincides with Wicklow County Council’s plans for a comprehensive assessment of the trail. It said the council is intending to publish a report into resurrecting the route which it hopes will be completed in the coming months.

Since its closure four years ago, the Friends of the Cliff Walk has been aiming to restore as much access as possible to what it notes remains a public right of way.