Madam, - The report in your edition of July 7th on the current difficulties of Irish tourism illustrates yet again the refusal of tourist (and indeed other) authorities publicly to recognise the blindingly obvious.
Malcolm Connolly of Fáilte Ireland is quoted as saying that the difficulties in walking tourism are a residue of the foot-and-mouth scare of 2001. They are not: they stem from the lack of access to the countryside. Who says? Why, Fáilte Ireland itself. An internal report of 2003, obtained under freedom of information legislation, states: "Access is the most critical issue for the developers of the [ walking] product right now and needs to be solved post haste".
Fáilte Ireland is not alone in failing to admit the core of this issue. The same stubborn refusal to face facts afflicts both Government and tourism interests, none of which will mention, let alone deal with, the obduracy of the farming lobby, which is the root cause of the crisis. Meanwhile, what is left of walking tourism is rapidly disappearing down the drain. - Yours, etc,
DAVID HERMAN, Meadow Grove, Dublin 16.