John Cassin has been farming at Hugginstown, Co Kilkenny, all his life. The farm has been in his family for three generations. His son, Stephen, has taken over the day-to-day running of the farm.
Their new house is just yards from a planned four-lane dual carriageway, proposed under the National Development Plan.
The £525 million project will knock 20 minutes off the driving time between Kilcullen, Co Kildare, and Waterford.
The new motorway, linking Waterford with Dublin, will run diagonally across the Cassin holding in the heart of South Kilkenny.
It will cut across nearly half his holding.
"If this road goes ahead I just don't know what I will do," he said.
There are some 230 other landowners in Co Kilkenny directly affected by the road.
Over 500 people attended a public meeting in Clara Hall, outside Kilkenny, on Monday night.
Mr Cassin's neighbour, Jim Phelan, told The Irish Times: "It will destroy me."
A dairy farmer, the new road will cut off some of his best land from his milking parlour.
If he is forced to leave the lucrative dairy sector, it will take away his livelihood.
Mr Bartley Bryan, from Dunbell, isn't sure how many acres will be taken from him.
He decided not to attend a private consultation with those designing the new road and officials from Kilkenny County Council.
Mr Bartley, who farms half-way between Gowran Park race course and Kilkenny city, knows that he may lose up to 40 acres.
And 64-year-old Tom Hickey, living just off the main Kilkenny-Carlow road at Clara, was told his house would have to be knocked down to make way for the new motorway.
Tom and his wife Biddie, like their neighbours, do not know how to fight the decision. "I can't see a win situation in this," Tom, who has a serious heart ailment, said.
He has no idea where he and Biddie would relocate to and can't envisage himself leaving the house he has made his home for so long, where he and Biddie reared their 13 children.
He is particularly upset that they were not given any prior indication that their land was earmarked.
"We hadn't a clue about what was coming and that's not right," he said.
"After you have been in a place for so long it becomes part of yourself and you can't really live anywhere else, can you?"