Pandemic accelerated interest in outdoor activities, minister says

Minister for Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media, Catherine Martin (PA)

Minister Catherine Martin has said that the covid-19 pandemic accelerated the interest in outdoor activities, as she opened a new zip-line trail in the Dublin mountains.

The Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media was speaking at Zipit Forest Adventures’ course in Tibradden Wood on Monday.

The adventure centre’s new Zip Trail course, funded through a €200,000 investment, includes 12 ziplines which add up to more than 500 metres in length.

“It’s an amazing amenity that we have here on the mountains – sometimes I think we take the Dublin Mountains for granted,” the Green Party deputy leader said upon launching the course.

“This is a beautiful way of immersing yourself in the great outdoors, which more and more people are turning to since Covid-19.”

Emanuel Enasoaie from Larkin Community College in Dublin rides a BMX bike at the opening of Zip Trail (Niall Carson/PA)

Cork-based Cool Running Events, which is run by Bill Cremin, manages Zipit Forest Adventures.

Mr Cremin said ziplining offers “a relatively non-intrusive way” to enjoy mountains and forests in Ireland.

“We expect that our new Zip Trail, which is a faster course with less challenges and just as much enjoyment, perfectly complements our high ropes course experience and at a lower cost,” he said.

Ziplining was originally used as a mode of transport around high altitudes, and later as a scientific tool to examine jungles without disturbing the environment, before becoming a popular tourism activity.

Darren Hreniuk, a Canadian citizen who moved to Costa Rica, was granted a patent to kick-off the first ziplining business in the 1990s.

This article was amended to correct an earlier error.