The Co Fermanagh village of Newtownbutler has been ‘decimated’ due to decades of under investment, a local business owner has said.
The border town is lined with derelict buildings and reminders of what was once a ‘thriving’ area, according to local pharmacist Paul Hughes.
Paul first bought the business in 1989 and painted a picture of a busy village where local residents had everything on their doorstep.
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Now the heart of the village has been ‘torn out’, with former commercial premises and a hotel now lying derelict.
“I first came to the town of Newtownbutler and bought the pharmacy here in 1989,” Paul told MyFermanagh.
“At that time this was quite a thriving little village and had most of the businesses and most of the facilities that you would want in any small town.
“Since that unfortunately, the core of the village has been torn out.
“We’ve lost a TV shop, an electrical shop, a furniture shop, restaurants, coffee shops.
“The town has been decimated quite simply over the last thirty years.
“As you can see it reflects in what you see, and it is a very sad reflection on the village.
“The people here are like the people of any village, they are a great community and they deserve better than what they’ve got.
The Lanesborough Arms, a well-known hotel and public house in the centre of the village, has laid dormant since 2004, and was the target of an arson attack seven years ago.
Local resident Claire Donaghy, who has lived in Newtownbutler all of her life, said it was sad to see the village in the state that it is in.
“This town had loads of shops, lovely shops all down the main street,” Claire said.
“It’s not the town I grew up in now sadly.”
When asked what Newtownbutler needs to restore it to a place local residents can be proud of, Paul says a ‘cash injection’ and a massive refurbishment.
“This street is decimated, you can see just looking around you the quality of the buildings. They are all in need of a massive refurbishment, a massive facelift.
“It reflects very badly on the town because people driving through here, there is absolutely no inclination to stop.”
Fermanagh and Omagh District Council recently announced more than £1.3 million of funding alongside a number of Stormont departments towards a COVID Recovery Small Settlements Regenerations Programme.
The local GAA club is to receive £70,000 in order to progress a pathway at its grounds, but there was no mention of any funding for any developments in the centre of the village as part of the scheme.
A new 'Vacant to Occupied' scheme is due to be progressed by the council later this year, which will encourage derelict property owners into development, with up to 50% of their investment available as a grant.
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Erne East councillor Thomas O'Reilly of Sinn Féin says Newtownbutler is just one example of decades of underinvestment in Co Fermanagh.
"Here in the rural west small villages are struggling to stay alive," Cllr O'Reilly said.
"We have a lot of vacant properties that were to be developed in days gone for housing developments and those are lying dormant.
"The private sector that owns those buildings and sites need to try and find ways of developing them.
"The council is only but one player in this - the council doesn't have the resources or the funding to be able to rejuvenate towns and villages.
"This is about infrastructure that has not had its fair share of money allocated to these towns and villages.
"There is decades of underfunding into the rural west, particularly along border villages to give them a fighting chance to survive and thrive.
"The council and the councillors have been fighting and lobbying and continue to fight and lobby right across all parties, but they don't have the purse strings unfortunately. The return from government departments and agencies is less than adequate."
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