Sir, – As a supporter of opening up Ireland to the joys of walking and its potential for tourist income, I was keen to try out the initiative of the Dublin Mountains Partnership in creating new walks in the vicinity of Dublin city. Their website was enticing, with detailed maps of the new walk which links the Luas between Tallaght and the Dart at Shankill.
A shuttle bus (with detailed timetable) meant that you could walk to the Hellfire Club from Tallaght and get a bus back to base.
I set out from Tallaght, and was very pleasantly surprised at the route taken and the quality and quantity of the direction signage. The landscape just out of Tallaght was spectacular and a pleasure to walk. However, once I left the off-road walking at roads near Glassamucky, the signs simply disappeared and I was left floundering. At this point I decided to end the walk and return by a road route to Tallaght.
When I contacted the partnership, they informed me that local farmers have been removing the walking signs from the roads in the area. I was also told that if I had proceeded to the Hellfire Club, there would have been no bus to take me back! Apparently, there has been poor usage of the service, and with tight finances, it had to be axed. However, this news was not made clear to me on the website.
With this state of affairs, walking will never become popular with the Irish and tourists alike. It is unacceptable that local people can remove signs on the public road. What is their agenda? With no bus, it means that walkers will have to walk back on the same route, which diminishes the walking experience. This scenario is so different to the walking situation in other countries, for example the Pembrokeshire coast in Wales. Everybody there, including local farmers, are all supportive of walking in their midst, and all gain by the activity.
The Dublin Mountains Partnership are conscious of these issues, and are trying to resolve them. I have no criticism of them (apart from poor communication regarding the ending of the bus service), and wish them well in their endeavours to open our wonderful countryside to the citizens of Dublin and visitors to Ireland. –
Yours, etc,