Madam, - It has been my good fortune to have lived in Kerry for over 20 years now. In that time the hills and mountains of this wonderful county have been a great source of pleasure to me.
They have offered me peace and tranquillity - or more correctly, they once did. In recent times, even if you are not actually confronted by an angry landowner, an array of "hostile" signs make it obvious that you are dealing with "Ireland of the unwelcomes".
The legitimacy of the landowners' case is now overshadowed by the damage inflicted on their communities. I say this on the assumption that many such landowners have family members who depend on visitors, to some degree, for income.
Encouraging any source of income to go elsewhere is difficult to reconcile as a balanced and rational response to real and perceived difficulties.
I don't wish to preach or to contribute in any way to a polarised debate; but the current uncertainty about access and the apparent lack of welcome in the countryside in general and the hills in particular is something that the rural community might consider addressing in its own enlightened self interest. - Yours, etc,
GERRY CHRISTIE, Monalee, Tralee, Co Kerry.