The Department for Infrastructure (DfI) Roads and Fermanagh and Omagh District Council have upgraded and refurbished the footbridge and retaining walls at Kesh Bridge.

The works involved repairing the river channel retaining wall, replacing a section of masonry wall with a new retaining wall along the southern riverbank, fixing the masonry wall on the northern riverbank and repairing the downstream apron of the Kesh Bridge with improvements to facilitate fish movement.

Additionally, a short new footpath was added to connect the footbridge to the public footway on the south side. With the completion of these works, the footbridge and connected path will now be submitted to the Department for Infrastructure (DfI) for adoption and future maintenance.

Infrastructure Minister, John O'Dowd said: "I am fully aware of the vital importance of this footbridge not only to the residents of the village of Kesh but also to those visiting the area. Since the retaining wall was damaged by severe flooding, causing closure of the adjacent bridge, people in the area have faced considerable inconvenience and during this time my Department has been working closely with Fermanagh & Omagh District Council to ensure the necessary repairs were carried out. I welcome the completion of the works in conjunction with the Council which has allowed us to safely reopen the bridge and put this key piece of infrastructure back into service."

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Chair of Fermanagh and Omagh District Council, Councillor John McClaughry, stated: "The work carried out by the Council (FODC) and DfI Roads to modernise the footbridge to improve access for pedestrians in and around the Kesh village has been a great benefit to all.

"The bridge was damaged by severe flooding in December 2015 and, since then, it has remained inaccessible to pedestrians. This resulted in significant health and safety issues for residents and visitors walking to and from the village.

"It is important that the infrastructure in our towns and villages is of a high modern standard to ensure a good quality of life for our residents and to make all areas within our District great places to live, work, visit and invest in."

The upgrade and modernisation works have received partial funding from the Covid Recovery Small Settlement Programme, supported by the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA), the Department for Communities (DfC) and the Department for Infrastructure (DfI).