Winter walkers urged to ‘leave no trace’

GIVEN reasonable weather, thousands of people will be taking to the outdoors for long walks during Christmas — a good way of working off excess calories and the over-indulgence of the festive season.

Walking is the most popular form of leisure time physical activity in Ireland today, according to Fáilte Ireland. We’re truly blessed with some of the best terrain in Europe for hill walking, rambling and trekking.

Some braver souls will be heading into the mountains. St Stephen’s Day, for example, is now a well-established date on the calendar for climbing Ireland’s highest mountain, Carrantuohill, with more people taking part year on year.