Council stops scrambler bikers plaguing Cooley

Scrambler bikes or quads no longer plague the Cooley Mountains after Louth County Council passed by-laws prohibiting them on …

Scrambler bikes or quads no longer plague the Cooley Mountains after Louth County Council passed by-laws prohibiting them on the mountains unless they are licensed by the council.

Since the by-laws came into operation in March the problem has been eradicated and, according to local farmers, it is safe again for them and their sheep to return to the mountains.

"We had already lost our sheep in the cull after foot-and-mouth, and it was hard enough putting sheep back on the mountains and getting them to settle in without the bikes," said Mr Tommy Jameson, a farmer from Ravensdale.

As well as upsetting sheep and destroying their pastures, the scramblers had also destroyed part of the Doonan mound at Doolargy near Ravensdale.

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It is believed to date from early Christian times, but its importance was lost on the cyclists who continually drove over and around it despite attempts by a member of the Louth Archaeological and Historical Society to stop them.

Once the by-laws were passed the council erected large warning signs.