A Minister said yesterday that it would be disastrous if people who were using advertised and agreed walkways were accosted in any way. Such incidents must never happen, he said.
The Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs, Mr Ó Cuív, told a meeting of Comhairle na Tuaithe, the Countryside Recreation Council, that these incidents were particularly damaging to Ireland's international tourism reputation.
"The saddest part of all of this is that such incidents particularly hurt rural areas which should be getting the benefits of rural tourism."
However, a spokesman for the Irish Farmers' Association (IFA) warned the Minister that any attempt to legislate access to the countryside would be fiercely resisted by farmers.
IFA hill-farming committee chairman Mr Michael Comiskey said the conflict that existed in some areas between farmers and hillwalkers was primarily related to people trying to access land without the permission of the owner.
He said farmers have facilitated hillwalkers in many parts of the country, with walking routes being agreed through a partnership approach.
He said this must be the way forward, and he called on the Minister to put the necessary resources in place to facilitate this. "While the Rural Social Scheme can play a role, nevertheless it will be limiting in some areas as there may not be sufficient farmers on farm assist to participate in the management of walks."
Mr Comiskey said that farmers have shown in the past that where incentives were in place such as the Rural Environment Protection Scheme 1, a number of walks were created which had wide economic benefits for the rural areas concerned through increased tourism revenue.
He warned that any attempt to legislate access to the countryside would be fiercely resisted by landowners as the right to private property was a basic tenet of Irish society.
Mr Ó Cuív said he was willing to use programmes such as CLÁR [a scheme for rural areas with special disadvantage], and the Rural Social Schemes to develop walkways, turnstiles and parking areas.
He said he would fully support anyone from any group who came to him with a big-hearted and big-minded approach, and would do everything to ensure that no one abused their generosity.
The Irish Cattle and Sheep Farmers' Association president, Mr Malcolm Thompson, said mutual respect, insurance and a tourism bounty should be the cornerstones for resolving the differences between farmers and walkers.
He said public rights of way must be recognised by farmers, but new rights of way could not be created by unaccountable or unqualified bodies. Such decisions must be the subject of due legal process.
The Minister used the occasion in the Heritage Hotel, Portlaoise, to thank those who had helped when he was involved in an accident last week, and said had it not been for the skill of his Garda driver he would not be alive.