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“You’ll be walking where smugglers once walked, and later, where soldiers stood guard,” said local historian Éamonn Ó Dochartaigh. “But now it’s just a path. That’s the quiet miracle of it.”

Beyond its economic promise, the greenway offers walkers a path through history — passing 19th-century railway bridges, famine-era stone walls, and the haunting silence of the Lagan Valley bogs. Interpretive signs along the route will tell stories of local emigration, the railway’s heyday, and the Troubles, when the borderlands were among the most heavily militarised in Europe. irischronicle

— Would you like a different tone — more political, satirical, or focused on Irish diaspora or historical topics? “You’ll be walking where smugglers once walked, and

For more on this story, including an interactive map of the route and a Q&A with the project’s lead architect, see page 4 of this week’s print edition or visit our special feature at irischronicle.com/greenway. Interpretive signs along the route will tell stories

The 27-kilometre off-road route, funded jointly by the Irish Government’s Rural Regeneration Fund and the Peace IV programme, will follow the disused railway line from Letterkenny to the border, then continue along the River Foyle into Derry city centre.

The greenway opens to the public on June 10th. Cycling and walking are free, with bike hire available in Letterkenny and Derry. A shuttle bus will run along parallel roads for those wishing to complete one-way journeys.

Officials from both sides of the border cut the ribbon yesterday at a low-key ceremony near St. Johnston, with Derry City and Strabane District Council describing the route as “a living example of cross-community cooperation.”