Farmers anger will lead to closure of Westport to Achill Greenway

FARMERS in west Mayo are so angry at the treatment of landowners affected by the route of the Murrisk Greenway that they will close the existing Westport to Achill Greenway.

The claim was made by Independent councillor John O'Malley who warned Mayo County Council and the TII of the potential backlash from farmers if land for the Murrisk Greenway was obtained through Compulsory Purchase Order (CPO).

Speaking at the monthly meeting of the Westport/Belmullet Municipal District, the Carrowholly-based councillor said farmers were angry that CPO was being threatened to obtain land for the Greenway. He said that farmers living along the existing Great Western Greenway still own the land along the route and warned they can still close it.

“You don't have a full right to the greenway from Westport to Achill. I have talked to farmers who have told me that if you continue to treat the farmers the way you are treating them and take their land, they will close the greenway from Westport to Achill. They were very serious about it,” he warned.

“There is one man who closes the gate [along Great Western Greenway] one day a year to keep his right to it. People have told me they will put a gate across it and close it if you continue to treat those farmers the way you are treating them. When I talk to farmers about it as far away as Glenhest they are in a rage about what they are trying to do to those farmers.”

Cllr O'Malley, who is a farmer, said that farmers are very attached to their land and it would be a sad day if the greenway from Westport to Murrisk went ahead through CPOs.

“You cannot bulldoze your way through their land without their consent and leave them in a way their farms will be useless to them. It is not right and proper. There is more to it than a piece of land and you have to understand it,” he said.