Nally verdict gives no assurance to walkers

THE verdict in the Pádraig Nally case increases well-founded fears among walkers about venturing onto the mountains and hills of Ireland.

While most farmers willingly allow access over their land, in recent years there have been more than a few cases of walkers being physically and verbally assaulted on open, remote ground where they assumed they were safe. The latest case was that of two elderly ladies from Scotland who were outrageously abused while out walking in Kerry.

They won’t be back — and neither will their friends.

Undoubtedly, they will be much happier in Scotland where they have the legal right to roam almost anywhere.

Even before the Nally case, the fines handed down for serious assaults on recreational users were derisory, with the judges’ verdicts usually along the lines of ‘if the walker hadn’t been on this land, this wouldn’t have happened’.

The one case where a farmer was jailed was not because he assaulted a walker, but because he would not pay the small fine resulting from what was a serious assault.

Farmers, who receive so much from the taxpayers of Europe (and increasingly from those in Ireland), should contribute something other than casualties in A&E departments.

Until that happens, walkers here face the possibility of an unpleasant encounter and will, when they can, go in increasing numbers elsewhere.

Roger Garland

Chairman

Keep Ireland Open

Butterfield Drive

Dublin 14