Madam, - I will not bore your readers with details of the misrepresentations of my position made by Frank Nugent of the Mountaineering Council of Ireland (January 15th). The MCI has been misrepresenting those who do not support its abject surrender to farming interests for years; there's nothing new in it.
A new dimension to this surrender is reported in Sean MacConnell's report in your edition of January 14th, in which he says the Irish Farmers' Association doesn't want walkers as "pavilion members". And why? Because walkers did not offer sufficient support in the farmers' protest against the jailing of Andy "the Bull" MacSharry, the man convicted of threatening and abusing two walkers! Truly the IFA's sheer effrontery is matched only by the MCI's humiliation. The MCI has not only humiliated itself; it has humiliated all walkers and other recreational users of the land.
The farming organisations have never given anything willingly; they understand only hard bargaining. With the MCI's policy of appeasement now in tatters, it should very belatedly start to speak out strongly for walkers and in support of access to the countryside. And before the farming organisations have a chance to wreck what remains of Ireland's walking tourism industry, the Government should take them on in the same way as they have taken on the drinks lobby over smoking in pubs. It's as stark, and simple, as that. - Yours, etc.,
DAVID HERMAN,
Meadow Grove,
Dublin 16.