DAVID HERMAN,
Sir, - Readers impressed by the marvellous photograph of Doolough, Co Mayo in your Magazine of April 13th might be less so when they learn the sad facts about access to our countryside.
You have no legal right to be on any private land in any part of this jurisdiction - if you are able to step onto it in the first place. For instance, sturdy barbed wire fences line the road along Doolough and surround the trees shown in the photo.
It matters not whether the land in question is bogland, rough grazing land or in the middle of nowhere. You may think you have a right of way if you and others have walked an area for generations, but you will have to go to court to prove it. Nor is this merely theoretical. The citizens of Westport who want to access Ugool beach and those of Cork who want to retain what they thought was their right to walk the Old Head of Kinsale are finding out the hard way. These are just two examples among many.
Contrast this with what is happening in Scotland. There, legislation is well advanced to grant the right to roam anywhere except across growing crops, in the vicinity of dwellings and in other obvious locations. There are also plans to augment the already comprehensive network of rights of way. And all this without financial compensation to landowners.
Scotland is just as scenic as Ireland. Tourists interested in walking - an appreciable sector of the market in both countries - will think twice about choosing Ireland over Scotland (and indeed many other countries) given our parlous access conditions. And who can blame them? - Yours, etc.,
DAVID HERMAN, Keep Ireland Open, Meadow Grove, Dublin 16.