Why farmers should not be paid for letting walkers onto their lands

WE wish to respond to the comments by Cllr Michael Holmes (Irish Examiner Farming, September 7) where he accuses Keep Ireland Open of being “bully-boys” for daring to advocate reasonable access to the land.

We are members of Comhairle na Tuaithe, the body set up by Rural Affairs Minister Eamon Ó Cuiv to try to resolve access difficulties, and we operate within the parameters set by the comhairle. We defy Mr Holmes to give an example of this “bullying”.

The councillor’s claim that farmers should be paid for making their land available to walkers does not stand up to scrutiny. The latest Department Agriculture survey shows that 87% of farm income comes by way of subsidies from the Irish and European taxpayers. In spite of this, Mr Holmes wants a ‘cut’ of the action. We would ask why he and other farmers don’t get involved and service the tourism industry. There are many ways they could do so, such as accommodation, meals, guiding, etc.