Sir, – Keep Ireland Open would like to support wholeheartedly the sentiments expressed in your editorial ("Encouraging numbers") and in David Turner's letter (December 16th).
We have been unsuccessfully campaigning for many years. The four main political parties – Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael, Labour and Sinn Féin (yes, even Sinn Finn!) have run a mile from any legislative proposal that might just possibly offend the farming community.
It is now obvious that walking tourism cannot compete with other European countries. An article in the winter issue of Walk magazine – the official organ of the immensely influential Ramblers organisation – singled out Ireland as having the least walker-friendly regime in Europe. A sad fact with which we must agree. Walking visitors to other European countries are assured of a warm welcome, with no nasty "keep out" signs. They will encounter well-marked and maintained trails and a freedom to roam in upland areas.
The latest statistics tell us that farmers represent less than 4 per cent of our population.
An aphorism mentioning tails and dogs comes to mind. – Yours, etc,
ROGER GARLAND,
Chairman,
Keep Ireland Open,
Butterfield Drive,
Dublin 14.
Sir, – David Turner rightly bemoans the dearth of long-distance walking trails in Ireland, and the lack of attraction for the millions of Europeans and others who like to take a holiday on foot, or on two wheels.
To give Fáilte Ireland its due, it has belatedly begun to realise that it missed an important trend; its recent research showed that many more Germans would visit our shores if we had sufficient mileage of interconnected trails. Our much-lauded 43km greenway in Mayo pales into insignificance by comparison with the 70,000km that can be enjoyed in Germany.
So why don’t we have our own network and why don’t we go after the thousands of jobs that would result from it?
It’s very simple. Our politicians don’t understand the potential of our hundreds of miles of canal and river navigation towpaths or our disused railways. They don’t understand the need for long trails, and instead they favour short routes going from nowhere to nowhere so that TDs can be seen to deliver funding locally. They prefer to block greenway development on abandoned rail lines because vague promises of trains in the future are easier and don’t require any action, and because the squatters who are slowly acquiring these State-owned assets by adverse possession mustn’t be discommoded.
Mostly though, they just don’t understand. They don’t understand that tourists have no desire to holiday with their families along busy roads. They don’t understand that nobody will come to Ireland to spend a week cycling up and down the Mayo Greenway.
A couple of years back, a Mayo county councillor suggested that tourists who fancied a walking holiday could use the Castlebar ring road. Clearly our politicians have a lot of catching up to do before tourism policies match the realities of the market. – Yours, etc,
JOHN MULLIGAN,
Boyle,
Co Roscommon.
A chara, – Your editorial was spot-on. Our limited public countryside access, compared to that of our competitors, is hindering our tourism development. There is no legal right in Ireland to walk in our countryside or mountains areas. Rural areas, in particular, are losing out. They have most to gain from ecotourism if walkers had some legal access as enjoyed in other countries. – Is mise,
S O’CUINN
An Charraig Dhubh,
Baile Átha Cliath.