A new walking scheme has brightened the outlook for rural tourism and has gone a long way towards solving years of conflict over access
THE NATIONAL WALKING trails network includes 32 trails which stretch 3,000km to reach virtually every corner of Ireland. Trumpeted as the salvation of rural tourism at innumerable cheese and wine launches, they were designed to link our loveliest villages, meander tranquil riverbanks, drop in on ancient castles and allow footfall access to landscapes loaded with legend.
With the expressed support of politicians you could, in the past, be sure of abundant backslapping for local organisers at the ribbon-cutting ceremony for an addition to the national walking trails network. Then, when the ministerial Mercedes had departed, you could be equally certain that no expense would ever again be sanctioned to ensure the long-term viability of the routes. Our trails suffered chronic underinvestment and they decayed because of unresolved access problems - problems which often forced users to tiptoe onto unsuitable and dangerous public roads. They also lacked shorter loops to attract casual walkers, and were sidelined by the seemingly unstoppable urbanisation of Irish tourism. With hindsight it is now clear that Ireland's trail network has, in terms of diverting tourism spending into rural areas, been a spectacularly improvident flop.
However, moves are afoot to rectify this neglect. While the long-distance trails are to remain, Fáilte Ireland is also developing a series of more market-directed loop walks, which visitors can complete in a few hours and be conveniently routed back to their starting point. And last year there was a breakthrough on the issue of access to the countryside. Under a walking scheme being piloted this year, landowners are offered annual payments of up to €2,900 to maintain walkways routed through privately-owned farmland.
And so it's Monday night and I am sitting, not without some trepidation, in the back room of a pub in Borrisoleigh, Co Tipperary. I have been invited to a meeting aimed at creating new loop walks on the nearby Devil's Bit Mountain, which is being organised by the eponymous local hiking club. In the back of my mind, however, is an uncomfortable awareness that previously I have attended gatherings aimed at improving access to the Irish uplands that quickly degenerated into tedious soapboxes for professional contrarians, endlessly nit-picking about intransigent farmers, insensitive walkers, indifferent insurers or the legal implications if a rambler was hit by a combine harvester.
When proceedings begin, however, it is a pleasant surprise to discover an abundance of common sense and can-do attitudes. There is none of the instinctive defensiveness that so often proved a funeral pyre for reasoned debate on access at national level. While those present clutch glasses of mineral water, local woman Mary Cummins chairs the meeting with a difficult-to-resist enthusiasm for the project.
Retired garda inspector, John Lynagh, has been out surveying the mountainside and has now returned with maps for three routes, which soon meet the general approval of all present.
Bob Stewart, who represents local landowners, adds his support for the routes proposed. He points out that over the generations farmers have allowed unhindered access to the Devil's Bit and for him the new payment system is just a welcome bonus.
Afterwards he tells me he would allow access even if there were no financial reward for the farmers involved. Such altruism is at first surprising, but it is supported by a recent Teagasc study showing that, among the farmers prepared to allow walkers access to their land, close to half would do so free of charge. There is, however, one problem. Suckling is Bob Stewarts main enterprise and he needs to keep bulls running with his cows, but there have been several instances of young people teasing these animals, which he points out is extremely dangerous. Those at the meeting nod sympathetically. Almost all present are no more than one generation removed from the land and can readily appreciate the difficulties of mixing the often-harsh commercial realities of modern-day farming with recreational use of the countryside.
NEWLY-APPOINTED RRO (Rural Recreation Officer) Con Ryan, is attending the meeting and suggests extra funding can be made available beyond the walk maintenance payment, for a fence to separate walkers from cattle. All including Bob Stewart are happy with this suggestion and soon club secretary Sheila Ryan is putting final touches on the application to Fáilte Ireland.
Emerging afterwards into the unseasonably astringent autumn night, I marvel the ease with which individuals, deeply rooted within communities and without pressure to grandstand on issues, can achieve a harmony of purpose that often eludes organisations at national level.
Con Ryan accepts my point and admits that in the past the access debate was indeed divisive. In his role as RRO he is, however, at pains to point out that he has found co-operation and support from all agency officials and organisations mandated with delivering the walking scheme.
But I can't help playing devil's advocate and questioning if this new-found consensus will survive dogs off lead or gates left open? The answer here is a firm Yes.
"Walkers are generally a very responsible bunch and I have nothing but the height of praise for them. The key to good farmer/walker relations are stiles which are now provided free of charge, on approved routes. When these are in place a farmer can put his mind at ease by locking gates without thereby closing the trail."
And what of the perennial problem of dogs worrying livestock? Again Ryan has a ready answer.
"When dogs are not allowed on a trail we have a notice to this effect at the trailhead and my experience is that walkers respect it. If contacted in advance most RROs will suggest alternative routes through a forest for dog walkers."
FORESTS ARE NOT really a feature of the Sheep's Head Way, but it is still one of our most scenic walks. It was established 15 years ago with co-operation from 180 farmers and is now one of the pilot areas for the walking scheme. When I asked local RRO, James O'Mahony, how farmers now feel about the Sheep's Head route the answer was as amusing as it was unequivocal.
"Every one of them has a big smile from ear to ear. They've all got their first walk scheme payment this week."
And has the investment from the walking scheme attracted tourism spending? O'Mahony has observed a tripling of walker numbers this year, which he attributes to investment in car parking facilities, marketing and new loops. He does, however, add that further measures are required to assist farmers start small enterprises along the route aimed at providing services for walkers.
Ciara Scully, Fáilte Ireland product marketing officer, has also found great enthusiasm countrywide for new walks.
"The key success has been shorter circuits that are entirely off road and in scenic locations. The domestic market has responded very favourably to the loops, while last year a record 488,000 overseas visitors walked in Ireland," says Scully.
But what about the future cost of the scheme? Isn't the English model, where the Countryside Agency makes a one-off payment to establish a right of way that will exist for all time not more cost effective?
When I spoke with Eamon Ó Cuiv, Minister for Rural, Community and Gaeltacht Affairs, he was resolutely opposed to the principle of paying for access in this way and believed that the Irish walking scheme is a far superior model.
"The maintenance we pay for has to be carried out anyway and each farmer has a clearly- designated scheme of work which must be fulfilled."
And can the exchequer afford this enduring financial commitment? Here Ó Cuiv is unequivocal. "The revenue from increasing overseas visitors will far outweigh the modest investment under the walking scheme."
So have we here the ultimate good news story where everybody lives happily ever after? Not quite! Access problems still bedevil many areas, the number of overseas walkers remains a fraction of what is attainable and many trails still lag behind accepted international standards.
But while rural tourism is, undoubtedly, still a long way from summiting the mountain top of its potential, the walking scheme has certainly brightened the general outlook and been broadly welcomed by countryside organisations.
Clearly, there is now a growing belief that - following on a period of lamentable neglect - trail-walking will, in Ireland in the near future, reclaim its place as an important revenue source for enhancing the viability of rural communities.