Newsletter No
22 Spring
2004
Editorial : The McSharry Case
KIO were shocked by the overt public support given by farm
organisations to the "Bull" McSharry. This incident has cast a long
shadow over the future of the fledgling Comhairle na Tuaithe - The
Countryside Council. If this Council is to work effectively it will
require the co-operation of the various stakeholders in our countryside.
Because of our abhorrence of violence, we felt it necessary to make the
following statement at the meeting held in February setting up Comhairle
na Tuaithe: "KIO wishes to put on record its extreme
dissatisfaction with the attitude of the IFA (and indeed the Irish
Cattle and Sheep Owners Association) to the imprisonment of the "Bull"
McSharry due to his failure to pay a fine pursuant to his conviction for
intimidating two walkers. For the President of the IFA - John Dillon -
to support a protest outside the jail shows their support for violence.
We call on the IFA to give a commitment that, in future, they will use
exclusively peaceful means in the pursuance of their aims." Unfortunately, there was no response from the IFA
representatives at the meeting nor subsequently. It is essential that
peaceful means only are used to settle differences. KIO are committed to
this principle and we expect that landowners and those organizations
representing them to accept this principle also.
Comhairle na Tuaithe - The Countryside
Council.
The council has been set up by the Dept of Community, Rural and
Gaeltacht affairs and the first meeting is scheduled for May. The
Council comprises the two main farming organizations, Failte Ireland,
Coillte and many organizations including KIO representing recreational
users. Its remit is to provide better access to the land for walking. At
a series of pre-meetings we made it clear that the Council could well be
little more than a talking shop, unless a proper legislative structure
is put in place to provide a balance between the respective rights of
landowners and walkers.
Unfortunately KIO has received little support from other
organizations except for Failte Ireland. The Minister Eamon O'Cuiv TD
has "rejected out of hand" any change in the law. We would have to say
that the position the Minister had taken will not get the Council off to
a flying start. Without new legislation on mandatory listing of rights
of way and the freedom to roam over rough grazing land we remain
extremely sceptical about the ability of the Council to deliver.
However, we'll hang in there for the moment.
The Oireachtais Committee on the
Constitution
The committee has just published its report on their review of the
Property Rights Articles in the Constitution. While the bulk of the
Report deals with such vital issues as the price of building land, it
did devote six pages to access to the countryside. The main conclusion
of the Committee was "that no constitutional amendment is necessary to
secure a balance through legislation between the rights of the
individual owners and the common good."
This conclusion will enable KIO to lobby the Government and
Opposition parties for the appropriate legislation to allow reasonable
access to the countryside. We already have a commitment from one of the
opposition parties to publish a bill to provide for mandatory listing of
rights of way.
Land Reform (Scotland) Act Passed -
Statutory Rights for Recreational Users.
Early last year, the Land Reform Bill received Royal Assent and went
on the statue books as the Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2003.
Part 1 of the Act secures the legal right of access for the public,
subject to responsible behaviour in relation to the land itself and
those who live on and make their living from it while exercising the
right. It also defines the obligations of landowners and specifies areas
excluded from the right such as buildings and their immediate
surroundings, sports and playing fields and crops. It was recognized
during the debate on the legislation, that the Act itself could not
provide all the fine-tuning necessary to address often complex issues.
The Act will therefore be supplemented by the Scottish Outdoor Access
Code.
The Access Code will function in a similar way to the Highway Code,
defining good practice in relation to access for both the recreational
user and the land-manager and having evidentiary status in any legal
action. Scottish National Heritage are required to draw up a draft,
consult on it and submit it to the Scottish Ministers. It is hoped that
by the end of the year the Code and some of the new rights in the Act
will take effect - in particular those relating to horse riders,
canoeists and cyclists. It is also uncertain at present just when local
authorities will be able to make use of their new powers to remove signs
which have been put in place to confuse and to deter members of the
public seeking to exercise their right of access.
Advice from the Mountaineering Council of Scotland is that access for
climbers and hill-walkers should not be greatly affected during the
interim period. There was considerable discussion during the access
debate about the validity of the assumed common law right of access to
wild land widely regarded as part of the Scottish legal tradition. No
definitive view emerged and the Executive took the view that the new
legislation solves the problem by establishing a new and unambiguous
statutory right. We are likely to see, though, that there is still
considerable scope for ambiguity when discussion of the Access Code gets
underway.
Nonetheless, the land Reform (Scotland) Act 2003 represents a
landmark in enabling access to the Scottish countryside. It's worth
remembering that this Act, and other legislation which makes up the
Scottish Executive's land reform programme, represent the first laws on
land ownership and access to the countryside to be passed by a
Parliament democratically elected by the whole adult population of
Scotland.
It is interesting to note that this Act goes further in providing for
Access than the equivalent recent legislation (CROW Act 2002) in England
and Wales. KIO believes that the Land Reform (Scotland) Act is a most
practical and economical way to address rights of way and access issues,
as the voluntary approach has been continually unsuccessful in Ireland
and elsewhere.
EU Lobbying
At last our petition to the European Parliament on the unnecessary
barbed wire fencing required under the Rural Environmental Protection
Scheme has been heard. We made a verbal presentation of our case to the
Petitions Committee in Brussels. We received a cordial hearing and many
members expressed their horror at our pictorial evidence of the visual
pollution of the Western Uplands. Prior to that we met senior officials
from the Agriculture and Environmental Directorates. Both the EU
Parliament and the Commission have called the Irish Government to
account. We are hopeful that our efforts will bear fruit.
We have also tabled a Question to the EP about the progress of the
"Opinion" expressed by the Committee of the Regions, which recommends
that all member states should make reasonable access to the land
available to its citizens.
Finally, we are lobbying EU political Groupings and have made contact
with the Euro Greens who have a large block of seats in the European
Parliament. They have offered their support to make reasonable access a
pre-condition for receipt of payments under CAP.
We are asking all members to lobby their local politicians on rights
of way and access issues in their local area. The access issue is now
firmly on the political agenda and the more pressure we put on our
public representatives the better chance we have of securing enabling
legislation.
Mullaghanattin Co Kerry
The fine cone of Mullaghanattin (771m) is about 10 km northeast of
Sneem and 20 km northwest of Kenmare on the Inveragh (Ring of Kerry)
peninsula. It is at the center of a splendid hill-walking circuit and
has been described in many guidebooks on hill-walking. Because of its
remote location it is unlikely to attract many hill-walking groups,
certainly very few compared to the peaks in Wicklow. As far as it is
known walkers have never caused trouble there in the past, nor have
there been complaints from locals. In spite of this, walkers have
recently encountered hostile notices and have been confronted by angry
farmers acting as a group. A local farmer told one group, who did not
see the sign at the start of the walk, to return the way they came (this
was at dusk in December) and it require a half-hour of negotiation
before they could return to their cars. The reasons given for the
farmers' attitude were the usual ones: insurance, alleged damage to
fenced and primarily, this is our land. Local tourist interests have
been informed and, though sympathetic, are powerless to do anythihg
effective. (Courtesy of Walking World
Ireland).

Enniskerry (Co Wicklow) -
Residents' Positive Response
Congratulations to the residents of Enniskerry who as a result of
local concern about attempts to close established walking routes have
set up the Enniskerry Walkers Association. The objectives of the group
are to promote walking, protect the environment and maintain public
access to traditional walking routes in their community.
A spokesman for the Association also listed a number of access
problems which include
1) The building of a wall to block off an important national monument
2) The attempts by a building firm to close a historic right of way
and pilgrimage route to facilitate a new golf course.
3) The attempt by a builder to close a traditional walking route
built as a famine relief scheme and used since then
4) The planting of trees to block an old coach road and scenic
walking route which is clearly marked on maps dating back to the 1760's
and has been in continuous use.
The association in their press release pointed out that Wicklow
County Council and other local authorities have a legal obligation to
protect recognised rights of way. They intend to lobby candidates in the
forthcoming local and European elections on the issue. We wish them
every success.
Planning News
Dun Laoghaire/Rathdown has recently
adopted its Developemnt Plan, which includes the twenty-two new rights
of way mentioned in our Winter newsletter. Our thanks to each and every
councilor for this breakthrough. Now the real work has to commence:
marking them on the ground, getting them on ordinance survey maps and
enforcement of the law as necessary. The rights of Way listed under the
Wicklow Draft Development Plan are still under discussion.
Glencree (County Wicklow) - Update
Many walkers have stayed away from Glencree due to the on-going
intimidation by landowners and on the advice of the Mountaineering
Council of Ireland (MCI). Others who have continued to visit the area
(many have been doing so for over 50 years) have been met with hostile
notices warning them that there is no right of way down Lambs' Lane to
the Old Famine Road etc. Reports to hand indicate that walkers are being
harassed in this area and particularly by one individual who is being
especially aggressive towards women by physically blocking their and
behaving in an intimidating manner. On the other side of the valley
another landowner continues to harass people at a parking area by taking
the registration numbers of their cars and demanding to know where
people are planning to walk. He has been reported several time to the
Gardaí in Enniskerry but continues with his threatening and illegal
behaviour. Many submissions have been made to Wicklow County Council on
these issues but they seem to have thrown in the towel and passed the
buck to the Countryside Council. So much for Local Authorities
representing the interests of the general public in their area
Heritage Officers in the Countryside
We are
delighted to report that Heritage Officers have been appointed by
several local authorities with what we understand to be a brief on
rights of way and access issues. It remains to be seen how effective
they will be with the various issues that continually arise in the
countryside.
Listed
below is a full list of existing Heritage Officers which we are led to
believe will be increased to thirty six. Contact them if you have access
or rights of way problems in your area.
County
Council |
Telephone
No. |
Heritage
Officers |
Address
|
Carlow |
(0503)70300 |
Lorcan
Scott |
County
Buildings Athy Road Carlow |
Clare |
(065)6821616 |
Congella
Maguire |
New
Road Ennis Co. Clare. |
Cork |
(021)4276891 |
Sharon
Casey |
C/o
SWRA Inismore Ballincollig Co.Cork |
Galway |
(091)509000 |
Marie
Mannion |
Forward
Planning Section County Buildings Prospect Hill Galway.
|
Kerry |
(066)7121111 |
Una
Cosgrove |
Áras an
Chontae Tralee Co. Kerry |
Leitrim |
(078)20005 |
Bernie
Guest |
Governor
House Carrick - on - Shannon Co. Leitrim. |
Limerick |
(061)318477 |
Tom
O'Neill |
O'Connell
Street Limerick. |
Laois /
Offaly |
(0506)46800 |
Amanda
Pedlow |
C/o Offaly
County Council Courthouse Tullamore Co. Offaly.
|
Roscommon |
(0903)37100 |
Nollaig
McKeown |
Courthouse Roscommon. |
Sligo |
(071)56666 |
Siobhan
Ryan |
County
Development Centre Cleveragh Co. Sligo |
Tipperary
(NR) |
(067)31771 |
Siobhan
Geraghty |
Courthouse Nenagh Co. Tipperary. |
Tipperary
(SR) |
(052)25399 |
Brendan Mc
Sharry |
County
Hall Clonmel Co. Tipperary. |
Longford /
Westmeath |
(044)40861 |
Gerry
Clabby |
C/o Westmeath
Co Co County Buildings Mullingar Co. Westmeath.
|
Wicklow |
(0404)20100 |
Deirdre
Burns |
County
Offices Wicklow. |
|
|
|
|
City
Council |
Telephone
No |
Heritage
Officers |
Address |
Dublin |
(01) 6722222
|
Donncha O
Dulaing |
Civic
Offices Wood Quay Dublin 8. |
Galway |
(091)
536400 |
Jim
Higgins |
Town
Hall College Road Galway. |
KIO
Contacts
President -
Jackie Rumley 098-36144
Chairman -
Roger Garland 01-4934239
Membership
Secretary/Treasurer - Kitty Murphy 01 - 8378594
Minutes
Secretary /Acting Secretary - Patricia Hamilton 834 2054
Campaigner
- David Herman 01-2984821
Committee
Michael
Carroll 01-4943221
Tony
O'Sullivan,01 837 4440
Frank
Winder. 01 497 0016,
Seamus Mac
Gearailt 01-2840322
Connaught:
Secretary - Michael Murphy 098 25068
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If you would like to inform us of any problems in your area please email us at
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