Dialogue and not the "heavy hand of the law" will resolve the vexed question of access to land by walkers, the Minister for Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs, Éamon Ó Cuív, said yesterday.
In a speech on the issue, the Minister said that if there were areas where farmers did not wish to promote rural tourism, so be it.
"The heavy hand of the law will not resolve the underlying issue because a law that people do not buy into is unenforceable in a situation like this. We are going the tedious, slow way, but it will achieve the best result," he told the agm of Irish Farmhouse Holidays in Portlaoise.
"A landowner owns the land and he or she is not under a legal obligation to allow anybody on his or her land. . . No compensation will be paid by the State for the provision of access to land.
"I would say that you can bring the horse to water but you cannot make it drink. If people feel it is not in their interest to promote rural tourism and so on in their areas, so be it because that is their right. However, we should advertise those areas where people are only delighted to attract rural tourists and are more than willing to allow them to roam the hills freely. That is the case in the vast majority of areas.
"If this is done in a focused way, a top-quality product can be promoted without conflict and it can be marketed internationally in the knowledge that tourists will not only have the acquiescence of the landowner but also his or her encouragement to visit," he said.
Saying the day was over when farming alone could support the average family farm, the Minister said rural communities had to "think outside the box" in relation to competing in the tourism market and should play to our strengths and develop angling, golf, mountaineering, water sports and even cookery courses and painting breaks.
While some rural communities had already adapted and used their heritage to promote traditional music and other cultural and archaeological events, activity-based holidays were relatively undeveloped in rural Ireland and access to land and walkways was fundamental for this.
He said some landowners had put up signs on their lands prohibiting access. His view was that a community-based approach was necessary to resolve such issues.Possible alternative routes should be explored, he said.
Mr Ó Cuív said Comhairle na Tuaithe, a countryside council set up to address issues relating to land access, was developing a national countryside strategy from 190 submissions made to it by various bodies. It had already drawn up access parameters for hillwalkers and landowners.
He said money was available for the employment of 2,500 farmers to work on rural social schemes to build and maintain walkways. He said if farmers were working on walkways, it was unlikely their neighbours would oppose them.
"Where people want access from a road to a mountain, I wanted to try to secure agreement with the landowners to build pathways, through the granting of a licence or other arrangement such as the rural social scheme," he said.