Bank holiday visitors to west Cork this weekend found that two of its most popular walks have been closed, in part because of a dispute between local farmers and the Department of Agriculture.
The closure of portions of the Sheep's Head Way and the Beara Walk has been forced on farmers because they are being denied payments under the new Rural Environment Protection Scheme (REPS), said Mr Con Hickey of the Irish Farmers' Association yesterday.
Because of the dispute, he said, areas outside west Cork could also be hit, and there was a possibility that the Suck Valley walk in Galway-Roscommon could be affected, as well as similar marked walks in Kerry and the midlands.
He said farmers who had joined the first rural environment scheme had been receiving £10 an acre for allowing public access and leisure activities, to a maximum of £1,000, but this payment had not been continued in the second scheme.
"We had discussions with the Department of Tourism, but they told us they had no funding to help so we are now putting forward proposals to the Department of Agriculture under the rural tourism section to have some sort of compensation paid," Mr Hickey said.
Defending the 250 farmers already involved, he said they had not wanted to stop access by the public but they could see no other way in light of the loss of income.
"Many farmers were involved in setting up these walks with local development groups and many farmers or their wives are involved in rural tourism, keeping walkers and running B&Bs," he said.
"However, there is a principle at stake here, and farmers are losing vital income if they plan to go into the revised REPS scheme."
He predicted that as the original five-year scheme finished in other parts of the country, similar problems, which could also involve access to monuments, could occur.
"The west Cork farmers were among the first to get involved in the REPS scheme and therefore are the first to come out of it when the five-year term ends. That is why the problem has arisen here first," he said.
"We had a public meeting in Glengarriff, and there was a lot of support for the farmers by other people involved in the tourism sector. We want a resolution of the problem just like everyone else, and it gives us no pleasure to have to close down these walks, but we also have to make a living," he said.
Many of the Way Marked Walks were set up by local development and community groups, and in west Cork over 200 farmers were involved in the setting up of the two routes.
Support for payment for the farmers has come from Mr Joss Lynam, chairman of the National Way Marked Walks and of a National Sports Council sub-commitee dealing with the issue. The Beara Tourism Development Association is also supporting the farmers.