Our pilgrim paths offer a massive tourism opportunity for rural Ireland

We need to build awareness overseas of our Irish routes which long predate the Camino

Almost 1,000 people took the route along St Declan's Way earlier this year.

It is one of the tourism phenomena of the 21st century. In record numbers, people have begun freeing themselves for a time from the mundane obligations of daily living to follow the simpldified life offered by a pilgrim path. Most will go on to hike the ancient fishing net of ways footed by past generations on the winding roads to Santiago. Stressing not so much the destination as the journey, the numbers completing these routes have risen from fewer than 1,000 in 1985 to an astonishing 531,000 last year.

And the figures only account for pilgrims applying for certification on completion of at least 100km of the Spanish Camino. The actual number of completions is likely much greater, since the statistics do not include those who do not register their walk or those completing a section that doesn't finish in Santiago.