Leitrim Border Roads Unofficially Reopened, Ireland 1991

A number of roads closed by the British Army are reopened by local people on both sides of the border.

Leitrim is the only border county without an official road into Northern Ireland. Some people refer to the blockade between the villages of Rossinver in Couny Leitrim and Garrison in County Fermanagh as part of Ireland’s Berlin Wall.

Locals from both sides of the border have decided enough is enough and opened the road themselves. Their action was mirrored at two other crossings in County Monaghan and County Donegal in a day of action organised by the organisation Irish National Congress to highlight the hardship and inconvenience caused by the closed roads.

The roads were originally closed by the British Army as a security measure. It is claimed this action has split communities and even families. In some case people must take journeys of up to 30 miles to reach places that might only be a mile apart.