Mayor Moran has held talks with Irish Rail in a bid to get passenger services to travel through Adare village from January 2027.

The Limerick to Foynes rail line is in the process of being rebuilt, initially for freight services from the port village.

But there are hopes that due to the fact the Ryder Cup is taking place, passenger services could also resume on the line, which has been closed since 2001.

As part of this, a spur is being proposed to service Adare.

Mayor Moran revealed he has held talks with the Irish Rail board on this issue.

“This was to establish if, as a matter of engineering, they could achieve the objective of having the Ryder Cup serviced by train,” he said.

The mayor said he had received positive news from rail firm’s bosses.

“They think it’s possible to do. The next problem is, can we get the prioritisation of funding from the new transport budget to allow it to happen,” Mayor Moran said.

He wants to see the rail line open to passengers by January 2027 in order to service staff travelling to Adare Manor in preparation.

Ryder Cup 2027 will be an “amazing event” for Limerick, Mayor Moran said.

But he also feels it will provide a useful preview of Limerick into the future.

“We need to be able to showcase a new Limerick. We won’t have it all built.

“For me, it’s an amazing spotlight on Limerick in terms of sport, and, obviously, if we do it well, it shows we can host lots of big events,” he added.

“More importantly, it will be something that we can explain where Limerick is going to, from there to 2050 – and have an awful lot of important people see that,” he concluded.

From an article in the Limerick Leader.