There is a battle raging across the land as growing numbers of farmers and landowners close off rights of way and access routes through their land to some of the country's most scenic mountains and landscapes. Walkers are being met by "Keep Out" and "No Trespassing" signs on routes which, in the past, were open and accessible. Sometimes, as in the Ughool beach incident in Co Mayo last June, confrontation arises and both sides remain locked in conflict (more on this later). Meanwhile, farmers are growing increasingly irate at the presence of large groups of walkers trekking across their farms at weekends and throughout the summer months. Gates left open, sheep frightened by dogs, litter strewn everywhere and soil erosion are just a sample of the problems caused by such groups.
"The fad for hillwalking has replaced the fad for jogging, and more and more people want to get out into the fresh air of the countryside to walk," says Gay Needham, member of the Mountaineering Council of Ireland. "We are under huge pressure to be the mediators between the walkers and farmers on this issue," she adds.
"Most of the problems arise through ignorance. Farmers can be treated quite badly. City folk don't understand the tie of the land, and farmers want that part of their culture and history to be acknowledged. "Dogs are also a major problem. Everyone thinks their little mutt is lovely and wouldn't do any harm, but the statistics speak differently. People don't understand that sheep are quite silly animals and when frightened by the smallest of dogs, they can fall into a trench and die."
Also, with the growth in walking holidays (an estimated quarter million visitors took part in hiking/hillwalking activities last year) confusion regarding where one should and shouldn't walk is common. "Maps can be hard to read, and walkers from continental Europe automatically assume they can walk anywhere that has a marked route because in their home country, walks are practically all in national parkland," says Needham.
Saive Coffey is a Co Wicklow farmer who understands the growing animosity between farmers and walkers. "You only need a small number of people to cause a lot of trouble," she says. "As more and more people come out to the country to walk, their understanding of what's involved in farming is becoming less.
"The question of gates is very critical. When people park in front of gates, farmers can't move cattle from field to field. There is also the issue of internal gates in fields which are left open so that stock can get to water. Some young people think it is macho to climb gates without thinking of the damage that they can do. Climbing fences can also cause a lot of damage. "People bring their dogs out into the countryside to have a nice run but no matter how small the dog, it can do a huge amount of damage to sheep. Sheep are getting killed by dogs. Also others who are chased by dogs can lose their lambs afterwards. Then, if lambs get separated from their mothers, they may never find them." Invasion of privacy (one farmer explained how one walker came right up to his door to take a photograph of the people inside) is another more insidious irritation to country folk whose everyday rituals are sometimes so different to those of urban dwellers. However, the walkers have a case too, and many feel that farmers are taking strong measures in response to isolated incidents. Some farmers are also using the 1995 Occupiers' Liability Act as a rationale for putting up "Keep Out" signs even though the Act was deemed to be put in place to reduce their liability towards uninvited visitors to their lands.
While there are several places where walkers feel their access has been unnecessarily limited (for example, Glen Inagh, Co Galway; Cloghane, Co Kerry and Skelp and Durles, Co Mayo), the stretch of coastline at Ughool beach in Co Mayo has perhaps aroused passions the most. Last June, up to 100 protesters organised by the voluntary group fighting to preserve rights of access, Keep Ireland Open (KIO), arrived to take a stance against the Co Mayo landowner who fenced off the stretch of coastline. Sixty counter-protesters also turned up and the case, according to Seamus MacGearailt, chairman of KIO, is no closer to resolution. "We are at loggerheads with Mayo County Council over this issue," he told The Irish Times. As in all conflict resolution, communication between the parties involved is crucial. Gay Needham, cites one place where early communication would have resolved the problem of access before tempers flared. "Cattle were wandering onto the road and getting killed on Calary bog, near the Big Sugarloaf in Co Wicklow. The farmer in question felt he was responsible if an accident occurred, so he put up a fence. When this happened, a lot of people were furious, because they felt access to Calary bog had been closed off," she explains. However, if the walkers had understood the farmer's predicament, a solution may have been found more quickly. Now, stiles have been put in place to allow access across the bog while keeping the cattle enclosed. The Wicklow Uplands Council is a voluntary group of walkers, farmers, environmentalists and community councillors set up specifically to deal with such issues. Now two years in existence, disputes are being settled more amicably, and a pilot project of signs informing walkers of necessary precautions to take due to farming practice are currently being put in place in Glenmalure.
Guidebook writer David Herman believes local authorities should be more involved. "I'd like to see the traditional rights of way to walk across moorland and fenced land vindicated by local authorities," he explains. "If there are genuine problem areas, then narrow rights of way through farmland to get to places like the Wicklow National Parkland, should be created," says Herman. "To continue to walk the hills, we must be responsible, respectful and sensitive to the feelings of the owners, says Keith Collie, keen mountaineer and member of the Irish Mountaineering Club and Wexford hillwalkers. Writing in Walking World Ireland recently on the access issue, Keith Collie put together a list of suggestions which could form a walkers' etiquette of sorts.
They include such things as maintaining a low profile on the hills, keeping groups small - under 20 on tracks and no more than eight on open countryside. Where there is erosion, groups would spread out well away from the path edges. Collie also mentions the importance of keeping cars going to the hills to a minimum by sharing and not hiring a big bus to bring a group along narrow roads. The debate on this issue is at an important juncture. And one thing is certain: if farmers and walkers don't come to respectful agreements, we may find ourselves like our English and continental neighbours, with access to a limited number of clearly marked (and often chronically overused) walkways. If this occurs, the much-sought-after intimate access to the calm and beauty of the Irish mountains will be eroded forever.