A blanket ban on walkers crossing farmland appears to be unavoidable because of changes in the structure of a major EU scheme, a farm leader has warned.
Mr Con Hickey, chairman of the Irish Farmers' Association's western committee, said yesterday farmers had been receiving payment for allowing access to their lands under the first Rural Environment Protection Scheme (REPS).
However, he said, the revised scheme (REPS1) did not carry compensation, and as thousands of farmers would lose their payments for allowing access under the new scheme, they would not allow walkers to use their lands.
With almost 40,000 farmers in the scheme, which is a contract to farm in an environmentally sensitive way, large tracts of the country, especially in the west and south, may be denied to walkers.
"A lot of the walks I am talking about are advertised by hotels and Bord Fáilte without the consent of the farmers," he said.
"It appears that everyone except the farmer is making money out of tourists, yet he has to bear the cost of putting up fences, paying for insurance and the risks from dogs and people leaving gates open.
"You don't see the hotels or leisure centres opening their doors to the public for nothing. Why should we be any different?" he asked.
The IFA, he said, had had a series of meetings with the Department of Tourism but it did not appear to be interested. "The main problem is that the EU has said that there is no need for payments. People are entitled to walk where they want and they are paying the farmers enough," he said.
Mr Hickey accepted that some farmers and their families who were involved in tourism, especially in the west, were opposed to closure of lands.
"However, I can see no other way than to force the closedown of lands so this matter is resolved as quickly as possible," he said. "I am open to suggestions, but at this stage there do not appear to be any."
Mr Hickey said he was not suggesting that farmers shut off traditional rights of way, but something had to be done to restore the REPS1 payment.