Sir, – I note the letter from Susannah Clemence (“Wandering in the west”, September 21st), an English visitor to Ireland, complaining of the lack of off-road hiking and rambling access she encountered in the west of Ireland.
Sadly, what she says is correct and runs counter to the experience she will have in her home country or in continental Europe.
We in Keep Ireland Open receive emails from foreign visitors to Ireland making the same point. This is bad publicity for our tourist industry as well as being bad for all who live in Ireland.
The current Planning Bill making its way through the Oireachtas has a section where local authorities may list rights of way in their counties. Our efforts to maintain the current legislative position where they must list rights of way seems to be failing.
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We can only guess why this is so – probably because there is no legislation protecting rights of way so local authorities won’t have legal support in declaring a route or path to be a right of way.
Until legislation is enacted protecting and extending rights of way, off-road routes and greenways will be subject to the possibility of closure, except in odd cases like the Waterford Greenway, which is completely controlled by the local authority.
Political parties owe it to the general public and tourists to enact legislation on this issue and to give a manifesto commitment to do so in the next general election campaign.
This would end the dreadful situations from Castletown House in Celbridge to the North Beach at Arklow where access is being denied, not to mention other similar situations around the country. – Yours, etc,
ROBERT DOWDS,
Chairperson,
Keep Ireland Open,
Clondalkin,
Dublin 22.
