IN PICTURES: The Johnston family celebrates 50 years of The Railway Arms

That’s how Clare Johnston, owner of Coleraine pub The Railway Arms, summed up her family’s 50 year association with the popular bar.

Clare’s parents Hugh and May took over the town centre pub in 1975 with all of their children – Brendan, Sean, Colm and Clare – being involved in the business at some stage of their lives.

It was 25 years ago when Clare took over the business and one of the first changes she made was to alter the atmosphere of the pub which, as the name suggests, sits right outside Coleraine train station.

"It was always known as a man’s bar but now we get everyone coming in, a real mix of ages too. We started to run charity quizzes, we introduced live music and Sunday opening and, just last year, we established Platform 53 serving delicious hot food.

"So all of that really brought us in a new clientele, we really made it a bar where people wanted to come out to. There is a real family atmosphere here, a family environment and lots of people say to us that they come here because it is a safe environment.

"I like being around the bar too which is very important, that’s how mum and dad were when they were running the place.

"I have a great team here, we respect each other and that really works well. We are so lucky with such a loyal clientele and we have so many regulars.”

A regular fixture in the Railway Arms calendar is the Thursday night quiz, run by Seamus and Marian Fisher. Seamus, a retired Railway Arms barman, still compiles the weekly quiz which raises funds for a different charity and community organisations.

In fact, those weekly quizzes have raised a STAGGERING £178,901 for charity over the years!

Situated so close to the Showgrounds, home to Coleraine Football Club, it is no surprise that the Railway Arms has a massive interest in sport.

Take a look around the walls of the bar and you will see memorabilia from all sports but particularly football – for example, former NI international Barry Hunter’s shirt, premiere league and NI international Steve Lomas’ hat and much more.

"We’ve had some great sporting celebrations in the bar,” said Clare.

"Like the most recent time Coleraine won the Irish Cup Final or when we used to hold our Cheltenham Ladies Day event.”

But with a Liverpool supporter at the helm in the form of Clare, it’s no surprise that the Railway Arms is home to the Coleraine Liverpool FC Supporters’ Club.

And, it was the Merseyside team which afforded Clare and the Railway Arms patrons one of the most unforgettable nights in the bar’s history.

"I think the stand out night for me was when Liverpool were 3-0 down in the Champions League final,” Clare recalled, referring to the game against AC Milan in 2005 in Istanbul.

"This place was just doom and gloom but then they came back and won – the place just went crazy. It was electrifying!”

Now the Railway Arms is set to celebrate its 50th birthday with an all-day party on Sunday, June 1 – and everyone is invited.

"We will have music from 2pm with Johnny Johston, sax player Paula, music from Triggs and a magician,” said Clare.

"There will be a Madri van giving out pints, a photo booth, drinks and food – it’s going to be a fantastic day!”

Happy 50th birthday to The Railway Arms.