Sir, – The great abundance of rural footpaths in England and much of Europe arises from patterns of settlement arising in medieval feudal society, and not from any action by government. Rural Ireland has very few footpaths because it lacks the thousands of medieval villages which dominate rural England, each served by a vast network of footpaths criss-crossing the countryside and which have been protected since time immemorial.
Many of the publicised long-distance tourist walking trails are essentially founded on a combination of these.
The fact that the National Trust is the largest land-owner with nearly 700,000 acres in the most scenic areas, including 20 per cent of the entire coastline, has also aided key additions to paths for tourists in England.
Another key factor in England has been strict planning policies to ensure that new rural houses are attached to villages, and not scattered across the landscape, as is the case here. This has enabled the preservation of marvellous scenery which attracts walking tourists, despite a heavily populated state.
It is hard to envisage any significant change in Ireland’s footpaths since Ireland benefits from none of these circumstances, and has the further disadvantage of highly fragmented land ownership; in England, just 6,800 farmers farm 70 per cent of the farmland. – Yours, etc,
BILL BAILEY,
Ballineen, Co Cork.
Sir, – What planet does Mr Sean MacCann live on (December 19th)? Contrary to his assertions walkers do not want, or need, to wander round other people’s back gardens and, while there may be a few rambler-vandals, I suspect that there are far fewer than in the general population; they are unlikely to be deterred by “keep out” signs or legal prohibitions.
No, most hill walkers would be happy with clearly defined paths through farmland into remote, open country (this would also be to landowners’ benefit by controlling the present free-for-all).
Such a legal right has been implemented long ago in every European country that I know of, and I know quite a few, without uproar from landowners. So, what’s so different about Ireland? – Yours, etc,
DAVID HERMAN,
Meadow Grove,
Dublin 16.