LOOKING out over Lough Swilly and the 3,000 acre farm he downed until last Tuesday, Bob Graham insists he will never work the land again.

His sons and their families are staying with friends. They were evicted from their homes on the farm after a lengthy and bitter dispute with National Irish Bank. What the future holds for them, Bob Graham does not know. He is still trying to understand just what went wrong in the past.

Mr Tom Clinton, a former IFA leader, explains: "The basic ambition of any farmer is to leave a bigger and better farm on the day he dies than on the day he inherited. There are many who would put their farm before their family. For the Grahams their whole life evolved around the land.

For the past three years, Mr Clinton has been working as a negotiator for the Graham family. Until last weekend, he believed a formula to allow the family to stay could have been found.

"They are stubborn, hard and tight, there is no argument about that," says Mr Clinton of the family. "But they are also honourable and hard working people." Pride, he says, prevented them from walking away from the farm when things started to go wrong.

A Presbyterian, Bob Graham (66) never had much time for relaxation farming was his life.

From Glaslough, a few miles outside Monaghatown, Bob was given a 70 acre farm from his family as a wedding present in 19591 when he married Sadie, the daughter of a local farmer.

He started off with 12 cows and two sows. With his sons, Eric and George, and daughter, Barbara, he built up the holding. Thirty years later they had 120 cows and 600 sows, owned 500 acres and were leasing another 200.

The close knit family was worth well over £1 million when they sold the farm in Monaghan and moved to Donegal in 1989.

"They were aggressive and hard dealing, but were well respected as good, tough farmers," says Monaghan farmer John Boylan. "Sure there were people who would have had a knife in them, but we all have that. Anyone who has a farm of that size is not going to get as much sympathy as the man with 20 acres.

A traveller selling animal feed informed the family that "the best farm in Ireland" was up for sale. It was in the spring of 1989 when Bob, Eric and George went to see the 3,000 acre farm called An Grianan reclaimed from the sloblands of Lough Swilly.

"They came back elated," recalls Sadie. The farm which included a 700 acre lake, was below sea level and had 75 miles of drains running through it, but it was fertile land, had a 400,000 gallon milk quota and another 200,000 gallons to lease.

"It was an attractive package," says George. "A real challenge. We decided we were interested and went to the banks, including National Irish Bank, but they turned us down. So we went home a bit disappointed, but got on with our work."

The Grahams rang the owner of An Grianan, wealthy Northern Ireland businessman T.B.F. Thomson, to say they could not get a loan. They were asked to "leave it a day or two".

"Next thing the National Irish Bank rang us up and said they had changed their minds, but the loan structure would be changed to avoid problems with head office in England. It seemed like a good idea at the time," says George.

THE family paid over £3.5 million for the farm with £2.3 million borrowed from NIB on a 20 year loan and the remainder from the sale of their Monaghan farm.

From day one, things went wrong, according to the Grahams. The price of the farm was raised by £100,000 just before the contract was signed and the money was put on an overdraft. When they moved in they discovered a shortfall in that year's crops, George says. The money from the crops which was due to pay for some of the land was added on to their overdraft. A loan to buy cows to fill the milk quota on the farm was refused because the overdraft was too high. "And so it continued," he says.

In January, 1991, 17 months after the deal was struck, the bank called in £1 million, citing the deteriorating position in agriculture the forthcoming GATT agreement, CAP reform, developments in Eastern Europe and the Middle

East as well as the approaching single European market.

They were given 10 days to decide with a firm of auctioneers which land to sell. The Grahams refused. Instead, they sold the 700 acre lake, angering the bank, which believed control of the lake was crucial to a farm dependent on such drainage.

The relationship with National Irish Bank deteriorated over the coming months. The Grahams stopped making their payments in September, 1992. Four months later, the receiver, Mr Tom Grace, was sent in by the bank to recover its money.

Relations with the receiver were no better than had existed with the bank. There were a number of rows and the Grahams were fined for assaulting one of the receiver's accountants. Bob and his two sons were jailed in March, 1993, for seven days for contempt of court for obstructing the work of the received.

Tom Grace says every effort was made by himself and members of his team to reach an accommodation with the Grahams. A statement issued by his office on the day of the eviction said they had held numerous meetings with the Graham family and their advisers to discuss an negotiate a solution. No meaningful proposals were ever forthcoming from the Graham family.

The Grahams never courted popularity in Donegal. "They never shared friendship easily," said one neighbour. But when the sheriff moved in, on a court order, to seize cattle later that month, many softened their attitude to the Graham family, among them local councillor and farmer Jim Devenney "They were taking in calf heifers to be slaughtered. You wouldn't get a dish of mince out of any of them. It was pointless."

With the Grahams he followed the trucks from meat plant to meat plant. No factory would accept them and they were eventually kept on a farm in Co Meath until they calved. The bank is believed to have lost in the region of £200,000 on the exercise.

One of the receiver's assistants says he was assaulted by Bob Graham as the cattle were loaded. Bob Graham says the accountant was pushed.

"I was cross, you'd be cross too," says Bob Graham. "I'm very short tempered, don't you rise me or I'll fly. I apologise for it but that is how I am."

It was during their time in jail for contempt in 1993 that former IFA leader Tom Clinton became involved in the dispute and offered his services as a negotiator for the Grahams. "I thought there was wrong on all sides. I believed a compromise could be reached," he said.

"There was blame on both sides. But I found it very difficult to negotiate with the receiver and the bank. There were stages in it when a bit more leeway would have settled the case," he says.

Mr Clinton was in negotiations until a week ago. "On Friday night I spoke to Tom Grace's deputy, Michael Long. There was a proposal on the table. I was hopeful that a settlement could be reached and I ended the conversation believing we would talk again on Monday. When I rang back on Monday they didn't want to know. That night we heard that the bailiff was coming in to evict them."

The Grahams did not walk away from a golden handshake, he says. "There was no offer of £1 million, as suggested by Tom Grace. There was a suggestion of a half million which Tom Grace refused to put in writing.

"When the Grahams refused to have an agreed sale, the negotiations went on ice. But discussions resumed again last week. At that stage, Eric Graham put a letter in writing offering £2.5 million over a six month period, but it was rejected," he says.

A SPOKESPERSON for the receiver yesterday described the proposal as "unreasonable because it did not meet the debt".

The receiver has put the estate up for sale and it is expected to fetch over £3 million. If the sale raises more than the money owed to the bank and other creditors, the Grahams could have a claim on the remainder, but that is extremely unlikely. With penalties and interest due, the Grahams owe more than £4 million.

As dawn broke on Tuesday and the bailiffs approached, George Graham said: "I can still look people in the eye and do business with them. As far as I know the people I do business with have as much respect for me as I have for them. We made a lot of mistakes, but tomorrow we begin the rest of our lives.