Save the Reek - Croagh Patrick in jeopardy

THERE is a reassuring coincidence in the fact that in the very week that Pope Francis published an encyclical that argued strongly for a new, responsible attitude to environmental protection that a retired parish priest called for the badly eroded Croagh Patrick to be declared off-limits for many activities until a proper conservation plan is implemented.

Croagh Patrick is visited by anything up to 30,000 pilgrims on the last Sunday in July — Reek Sunday — and has in recent years become the venue for extreme sports and novel events. Because of this, erosion has reached a critical point.

In an entirely predictable and dispiriting reaction, Fáilte Ireland’s Wild Atlantic Way team said it would be disastrous for tourism if Croagh Patrick was closed. This response highlights another example of an agency of the State making the wrong decision. Mayo and the West have very many natural attractions and closing Croagh Patrick to save it would not make the region any less attractive. The opposite is probably the case. Destroying it will make this a less attractive destination to those who can see the bigger picture.