Madam, - A party of us recently attempted a well-known walk in Kerry. It is so well-known, in fact, that a description of it would immediately identify it; it features in many of the walking guides covering Kerry and the south-west and is clearly signposted by the local authority. I have done this walk several times and always enjoyed visiting this remote and beautiful location.
Imagine our surprise, then, to be greeted on this occasion by the landowner, who demanded money with menaces, became physically and verbally abusive and prevented us from walking this route. He was accompanied by members of his family, who were equally abusive. One of our party was an eight-year old; not surprisingly, she was extremely upset. We will not be returning to that part of Kerry.
I can understand the various financial and legal arguments put forward by some farmers, even if I do not agree with them. But in an era of declining support for agriculture, it is shortsighted madness to turn away people who respect nature, who want nothing more than to visit the hills and valleys of the country and who are happy to spend their money in Ireland rather than on foreign holidays. Encouraging such activity is the way forward and can only benefit the people of the areas in question, but it appears that some people think it is acceptable to promote their point of view concerning financial "compensation" through a blackguardly campaign of bullying and blackmail.
We finished a working visit to the Scottish island of Skye last week with a few walks on this beautiful island. We found we were welcome to walk anywhere on the island and its hills. Stiles were provided to assist our passage wherever necessary and there was no bar on passing through a farmer's fields as long, naturally, as gates were shut and dogs did not roam in the presence of sheep. Everywhere we met friendly and welcoming people. In fact, it was all a bit like Ireland used to be.
I am sure the Irish Farmers' Association would not support the type of bullying and ignorant behaviour we experienced, but I wonder if the IFA has any idea of the damage which mavericks like the individual we met are doing to the interests of rural Ireland. This is not a small farmer versus city slicker argument: none of us fitted the latter category unless writing to the Letters page of The Irish Times is in itself a declaration of culpability. Without even going into the arguments about land rights and people's rights, it is time for a more rational approach. If not, people will vote with their feet and go where they are welcome. - Yours, etc,
PIARAS MAC ÉINRÍ, Model Farm Road, Cork.