29/11/2025
When our late mother Breda Maguire was forced to retire due to ill health, my siblings and I faced the question of what to do with the family business — a pub and guesthouse- so it was repurposed into a thriving restaurant and guesthouse during the Celtic Tiger years.
When the Celtic Tiger collapsed, the business suffered severe setbacks and it would have been easy to let the building go or allow it to fall vacant.
My parents had been publicans who relied on a guesthouse to supplement their income, and I had grown up with the understanding that hospitality is one of the lifelines of rural Ireland. Reviving that building confirmed for me how much can be achieved when we repurpose what we already have, instead of letting it slip away.
We decided to repurpose it into a room-only guesthouse so that the building, and everything our late parents had built, would continue to have a purpose.
It hasn’t always been easy, but despite the ups and downs it is still going, and welcoming guests today is a reminder of the resilience of small rural businesses and the quiet strength of community-led regeneration in small towns the length and breadth of rural Ireland.
It was from that background — and at a time when I was starting out on my own in a rural town as a solicitor in the aftermath of the property crash — that I began to take an interest in how rural towns like Manorhamilton could rebuild, diversify and attract new opportunities.
My own experience of repurposing a building rather than losing it made me acutely aware of how fragile rural assets are, and how much potential lies in the spaces and structures we already have.
That thinking drew me into the SLNCR Rail Trail campaign, and into my role as secretary.
At the same time I’ve always been conscious that supporting a project like this means taking a position — and as a solicitor working every day with families whose connection to their land stretches back generations, I know how significant that is.
I understand deeply the concerns farmers have: fear of fragmentation of the farm; strangers near the family home; impacts on livestock; biosecurity; the worry that a greenway could influence future planning permission for sons and daughters who hope to build on the land. These concerns are not abstract or exaggerated — they go to the heart of rural family life and livelihood.
This is why, throughout our 15-year campaign, we have always held one principle above all others: the landowner comes first. We have never promoted a rigid straight-line route simply because a railway once existed. In reality, those lines now run through farmyards, fields, family homes and working holdings. Where the route needs to bend, divert or take a more winding path to protect privacy, respect livestock movement or avoid interfering with a family’s future plans, that is precisely what we believe it should do.
We know that a Greenway must be unobtrusive — designed around farms, not through them — and that it must enhance rural life, not disrupt it. The experience from other parts of Ireland shows that when landowners are genuinely listened to, when their privacy and access needs are respected, and when alternative alignments are embraced rather than resisted, the end result can coexist successfully with farming life.
My motivation for staying in this campaign is rooted in my love for the North West — a place unmatched in beauty and potential — and my belief that our region has been overlooked for far too long in terms of major investment and infrastructure.
The truth is that the North West has been largely forgotten when it comes to major infrastructure investment. We are four counties across two jurisdictions, and we often punch below our weight in population, politics and cabinet influence. The SLNCR Greenway is our opportunity to change that story: a project that physically and symbolically binds communities from the Atlantic to Upper Lough Erne; a corridor of connection, safety, tourism, heritage and pride; a route that gives our sons and daughters reasons to stay, work, build lives and raise families here.
A sensitively designed, farmer-friendly Greenway could help our towns attract new life and create opportunities for a new generation, without compromising the families who have safeguarded this landscape for centuries.
But none of that matters unless farmers feel heard, respected and protected. They are not obstacles to this project; they are central to it. My commitment, both personally and professionally, is to ensure that the SLNCR Greenway continues to be shaped with landowners — and with full respect for their rights, their livelihoods and their futures — every step of the way.
The project will not succeed unless farmers feel heard, respected and protected. That is why I remain committed to ensuring that any route developed will prioritise privacy, farm access, viability and the planning rights of the next generation.
Landowners are not an obstacle to this project — they are central to it. And I truly believe that, with good design and genuine dialogue, we can build something that enhances our landscape without compromising the families who have safeguarded it for generations. because I genuinely believe it can be done in a way that protects landowners while giving the North West a long-overdue opportunity.
With good design, real dialogue and respect for the families who have shaped this landscape for generations, I believe we can find a solution that works for everyone.
I know how much rural families depend on multiple income streams, and how important it is that new projects support — rather than undermine — the people already living and working on the land. I also know that the North West has missed out on major infrastructure for decades, and that a carefully designed, farmer-friendly greenway could bring new opportunities for our sons and daughters, creating a safer region with more local jobs, tourism and long-term prospects.
Please feel free to agree or disagree but whatever you think please don’t simply say no!
We had too much of No! in the past! It’s so important to not let this opportunity fail!
Happy Saturday!
