Mr. Shaun Cunniffe:

I am so encouraged by all the questions and positivity. Deputy Kenny is right. It is hugely important - it is as solid as the tracks themselves - that if we must not show any inclination that we are just greenway people. We are all for the railway. We are all west of Ireland people, but we have been working on this since 2012. There are rock solid reports that state it. It is open countryside. There are small villages and no population. There is motorway running alongside it, which is the best form of road possible. There are unbelievable private bus services. The information is available, but it is a good tip that we have to get the vocabulary right when we are presenting our case so we do not alienate people.

It is the default position that people say, "I would love a railway. It would be great to go on a railway." It is a big job to explain that there will be a greenway, say, in the interim, but not in any way threatening a railway. That is our position always - the complementary use of the alignment.

I am from Tuam. I have been the secretary of a ladies' football club for the past seven years. Every year when we are doing the fixtures, I can see this club is not in the division this year. It does not have the numbers. Other clubs have amalgamated and others are not there at all. Every year, clubs are going. They are amalgamating. The list is long, and it is real. The post offices are gone. The ATMs are gone. The Garda stations are gone. It is a plea from us here. We are trying to put stuff back into our areas for our children. All my nieces and nephews are gone. Emigration is real and big in the west of Ireland. We have got to do something now.

I am so happy that the members are all here and that they are so engaged with and so respectful of the process. I see a process in front us that I am very happy with. I just want to tell the members it is so heartfelt. My nephew has gone to Canada. In a restaurant, it is so hard to do business in Ireland. He is gone.

A greenway delivers one thing into an area - footfall, the golden ingredient that one cannot buy. They want to come in their thousands, and we are asking, "Will we accept you?" For our children, we have got to go with it. We have to make it happen and I really believe we can.