Funding for officers to manage rural walks

FUNDING is to be provided for the employment of 11 rural recreation officers in areas where there are clusters of suitable, accessible walks, Éamon Ó Cuív said yesterday.

The Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs Minister said rural recreation officers would be employed through the relevant leader company in the areas and would be funded through the Rural Recreation and Rural Development Schemes subhead.

Mr Ó Cuív said the role of the officers would be to co-ordinate the management of trails and assist in the marketing and promotion of trails in the region. “The issue of walkways and access has always been sensitive and it is one, I believe, which can only be solved by dialogue and by the active participation and support of not just farmers and walkers, but also the wider rural community,” he said.