Cecil Horkan is determined to stop the next phase of the planned greenway from Westport to Murrisk before it even starts.
And the 85-year-old farmer will have to do exactly that to be successful; because the proposed 6km route starts right behind his back door.
In fact, Horkan claimed that an early iteration of the route had the proposed greenway going right through his garage.
This plan was only abandoned following the intervention of some heavyweight political muscle, he maintained.
But his lands are still very much in the firing line, like those of close to 70 other farmers and commonage owners along the route.
Horkan’s farm is located around a mile and a half from Westport, just where the proposed greenway leaves its route alongside the main road to Louisburgh and heads in towards the Cloonagh Valley and the foothills of Croagh Patrick.
“The proposed route comes across the main road, up the road here beside the graveyard [Aughavale], in the gate and down across three of my fields,” Horkan explained, while standing outside his house.
“But there’s no way they are going through my land. I don’t care if they CPO [compulsory purchase order] it. They are not bringing machinery in that gate and I told the engineers from TII [Transport Infrastructure Ireland] and Mayo County Council that,” he added.
Around 18ac of the 26ac Horkan has around his home house will be impacted.
“The plan is to put a 15ft tarmac road through the fields, with a further 3ft taken on either side of it, and then they’ll have to fence it,” Horkan said.
“It would just wreck the fields,” he maintained.
However, Mayo County Council insists that the greenway will be just 3m or 10 ft wide with 1m (3ft) of grass verges on either side.
Cecil Horkan with his dog Rock on his lands.
Horkan pointed out that he reclaimed all of the land over the years, and the large boulders that pepper the field boundaries are a testament to this work. He cannot understand why TII and the council cannot continue the route along the side of the main road out to Murrisk.
And if they have to come off the main road, why not put the greenway on secondary roads that pass beside and behind his lands – and that could take the route out close to Murrisk, Horkan asked.
Like many other property owners whose lands will be impacted by the proposed greenway, Horkan insisted that he is not against the cycle route.
However, he is not willing to see his farm sliced in two when there are alternative routes that, in his opinion, would not cause a fraction of the disruption.
“I am not against the greenway. But put it along the main road where you’re interfering with practically nothing,” Horkan said.
Horkan is also fearful that the greenway, if built along the proposed route, will make it extremely difficult for family members to get planning on their home farms. One of Horkan’s four children has already built on the farm, but he has a number of grandchildren that may want to so in the future.
“The greenway as it stands comes out to my place on the main road. If it’s good enough to come on the road to here, why is it not good enough to stay on the road to Murrisk?” he asked.
The Belclare to Murrisk route
The greenway project between Belclare and Murrisk is being developed by Mayo County Council in conjunction with Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII).
The Belclare to Murrisk greenway forms part of the Clew Bay Bike Trail which will ultimately link Westport, Murrisk, Louisburgh, Roonagh, Clare Island, Achill Island, Mulranny and Newport. The preferred route is approximately 6km in length which runs from Belclare to Murrisk.
The study area extends from the Aughavale cemetery near Belclare to the Croagh Patrick car park, west of Murrisk village, with a total distance of approximately 6km.
The route goes through the Cloonagh Valley and Prospect, where it runs alongside the flood plain of the Owenwee River.
In its information on the proposed greenway, Mayo County Council states that: “Following from the development of this greenway there is opportunity for new eco-tourism and active tourism businesses to capitalise on the growing market, such as the development of bike tours and walking tours.”
Close to 18ac of Cecil Horkan's holding could be impacted by the proposed Belclare to Murrisk Greenway.
The council adds that these new business opportunities may provide “meaningful employment opportunities” for local residents and “provide a stable and reliable income from the increased tourism trade as a result of the development of this new greenway”.
INHFA calls for review of greenway code
A full review of the Code of Best Practice for National and Regional Greenways has been sought by the Irish Natura and Hill Farmers Association (INHFA).
The code was agreed in 2021 with the IFA, ICMSA and ICSA following negotiations involving the Department of Transport and Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII).
The INHFA call comes amid mounting farmer opposition to the development of greenways and particularly to the threat of compulsory purchase orders (CPOs) being employed to secure lands for
the routes.
INHFA president Pheilim Molloy reiterated the farm body’s opposition to the use of CPOs and called for a full review of the greenway code as it “allows for the CPO option”.
Both the IFA and INHFA have warned that farmer goodwill and co-operation with greenway developments was being endangered by the use of CPOs and the reluctance of TII and local authorities to take on board land-owner
concerns.
Landowner opposition to greenway developments is an issue not only in Mayo, but also in Connemara, east Galway, Cork, Kerry, Louth and in Sligo-Fermanagh.
IFA president Francie Gorman has called on Louth County Council to “step back” from issuing CPOs in relation to a planned greenway from Carlingford to Dundalk.
Gorman said he agreed with Taoiseach Micheál Martin when he recently stated in the Dáil that once a project enters the CPO process “you’re in trouble in terms of any greenway”.
Meanwhile, the Ulster Farmers’ Union and IFA have expressed strong opposition to a greenway project which is proposed to run from Sligo to Enniskillen.
Cecil Horkan is determined to stop the next phase of the planned greenway from Westport to Murrisk before it even starts.
And the 85-year-old farmer will have to do exactly that to be successful; because the proposed 6km route starts right behind his back door.
In fact, Horkan claimed that an early iteration of the route had the proposed greenway going right through his garage.
This plan was only abandoned following the intervention of some heavyweight political muscle, he maintained.
But his lands are still very much in the firing line, like those of close to 70 other farmers and commonage owners along the route.
Horkan’s farm is located around a mile and a half from Westport, just where the proposed greenway leaves its route alongside the main road to Louisburgh and heads in towards the Cloonagh Valley and the foothills of Croagh Patrick.
“The proposed route comes across the main road, up the road here beside the graveyard [Aughavale], in the gate and down across three of my fields,” Horkan explained, while standing outside his house.
“But there’s no way they are going through my land. I don’t care if they CPO [compulsory purchase order] it. They are not bringing machinery in that gate and I told the engineers from TII [Transport Infrastructure Ireland] and Mayo County Council that,” he added.
Around 18ac of the 26ac Horkan has around his home house will be impacted.
“The plan is to put a 15ft tarmac road through the fields, with a further 3ft taken on either side of it, and then they’ll have to fence it,” Horkan said.
“It would just wreck the fields,” he maintained.
However, Mayo County Council insists that the greenway will be just 3m or 10 ft wide with 1m (3ft) of grass verges on either side.
Cecil Horkan with his dog Rock on his lands.
Horkan pointed out that he reclaimed all of the land over the years, and the large boulders that pepper the field boundaries are a testament to this work. He cannot understand why TII and the council cannot continue the route along the side of the main road out to Murrisk.
And if they have to come off the main road, why not put the greenway on secondary roads that pass beside and behind his lands – and that could take the route out close to Murrisk, Horkan asked.
Like many other property owners whose lands will be impacted by the proposed greenway, Horkan insisted that he is not against the cycle route.
However, he is not willing to see his farm sliced in two when there are alternative routes that, in his opinion, would not cause a fraction of the disruption.
“I am not against the greenway. But put it along the main road where you’re interfering with practically nothing,” Horkan said.
Horkan is also fearful that the greenway, if built along the proposed route, will make it extremely difficult for family members to get planning on their home farms. One of Horkan’s four children has already built on the farm, but he has a number of grandchildren that may want to so in the future.
“The greenway as it stands comes out to my place on the main road. If it’s good enough to come on the road to here, why is it not good enough to stay on the road to Murrisk?” he asked.
The Belclare to Murrisk route
The greenway project between Belclare and Murrisk is being developed by Mayo County Council in conjunction with Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII).
The Belclare to Murrisk greenway forms part of the Clew Bay Bike Trail which will ultimately link Westport, Murrisk, Louisburgh, Roonagh, Clare Island, Achill Island, Mulranny and Newport. The preferred route is approximately 6km in length which runs from Belclare to Murrisk.
The study area extends from the Aughavale cemetery near Belclare to the Croagh Patrick car park, west of Murrisk village, with a total distance of approximately 6km.
The route goes through the Cloonagh Valley and Prospect, where it runs alongside the flood plain of the Owenwee River.
In its information on the proposed greenway, Mayo County Council states that: “Following from the development of this greenway there is opportunity for new eco-tourism and active tourism businesses to capitalise on the growing market, such as the development of bike tours and walking tours.”
Close to 18ac of Cecil Horkan's holding could be impacted by the proposed Belclare to Murrisk Greenway.
The council adds that these new business opportunities may provide “meaningful employment opportunities” for local residents and “provide a stable and reliable income from the increased tourism trade as a result of the development of this new greenway”.
INHFA calls for review of greenway code
A full review of the Code of Best Practice for National and Regional Greenways has been sought by the Irish Natura and Hill Farmers Association (INHFA).
The code was agreed in 2021 with the IFA, ICMSA and ICSA following negotiations involving the Department of Transport and Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII).
The INHFA call comes amid mounting farmer opposition to the development of greenways and particularly to the threat of compulsory purchase orders (CPOs) being employed to secure lands for
the routes.
INHFA president Pheilim Molloy reiterated the farm body’s opposition to the use of CPOs and called for a full review of the greenway code as it “allows for the CPO option”.
Both the IFA and INHFA have warned that farmer goodwill and co-operation with greenway developments was being endangered by the use of CPOs and the reluctance of TII and local authorities to take on board land-owner
concerns.
Landowner opposition to greenway developments is an issue not only in Mayo, but also in Connemara, east Galway, Cork, Kerry, Louth and in Sligo-Fermanagh.
IFA president Francie Gorman has called on Louth County Council to “step back” from issuing CPOs in relation to a planned greenway from Carlingford to Dundalk.
Gorman said he agreed with Taoiseach Micheál Martin when he recently stated in the Dáil that once a project enters the CPO process “you’re in trouble in terms of any greenway”.
Meanwhile, the Ulster Farmers’ Union and IFA have expressed strong opposition to a greenway project which is proposed to run from Sligo to Enniskillen.
SHARING OPTIONS