Farmers protest compulsory purchase orders for greenways

Farmers from 17 groups gathered outside Leinster House to protest compulsory purchase orders for greenways.

Groups travelled from Galway, Cork, Waterford, and Cooley Peninsula in Co Louth. The protest coincided with Joint Committee on Transport discussion on greenways. They said they were voicing concerns focus on greenways as leisure projects are forcing land takeover. The farmers argue that CPOs threaten to break up small farms and pass through homes and gardens.

Denise Collins shared “We do not want our land that we worked on for years to be taken from us forcibly. They have built up their homes, their livelihoods in the Cooley peninsula for generations on end. If this happens [the greenway], it will go through their gardens, their houses. Small farms will be broken up – making them unviable.”

John O’Reilly shared “There are plenty of places to walk up the mountains without tearing up land. We need all the land that we have.”