The Irish Farmers' Association (IFA) and the Ulster Farmers' Union (UFU) have jointly spoken out against the use of compulsory purchase orders (CPOs) for the Sligo, Leitrim, and northern counties railway greenway, citing concerns over the future of impacted farms.

It is proposed that the greenway run from Sligo to Enniskillen along a 75km stretch of old railway line, passing through Ballysadare, Collooney, Ballintogher, Dromahair, Manorhamilton, Glenfarne, Blacklion, Belcoo and Letterbreen on the way.

Plans have moved to phase 3 which tests the suitability of the chosen route, despite the two groups claim, that “no landowners in the vicinity supporting the project”.

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Michael O’Dowd and Liam Gilligan, respective chairs of Sligo and Leitrim IFA, said that the impact of greenways on the farmers whose land they run through is “very severe”.

Both county chairs stated that public lands should be used for the proposed greenway route, but that the “vast majority of the lands on the emerging proposed route are not public or State-owned lands and are in fact farmland”.

“The reality is this is no longer a rail line and is now part of active farms and may include houses and farmyards,” they said.

“The old, abandoned railway line is long gone and this land is now active farmland, making it unsuitable for a greenway.”

Discontent unanimous – UFU

UFU deputy president John McLenaghan condemned “any move to override the landowner opinion using vesting powers [CPOs]”.

McLenaghan said that the proposed route should be deemed unsuitable due to discontent “unanimously voiced by all affected landowners in the area at a recent meeting”.

“It has the potential to divide large areas of farmland, uproot farmers who have worked hard to build their farm business, and see large amounts of private property disrupted – this cannot be allowed to happen,” the UFU deputy leader stated.

McLenaghan called for the route to run predominantly through public lands and recognised that a cross-border greenway would represent a positive move if “executed in a fair way” that accounts for landowner concerns.