Many locals also denied access to Old Head

EAMONN O’NEILL (Irish Examiner letters, August 2) says he is disgusted because I, speaking on behalf of the Free the Old Head of Kinsale Campaign, had the audacity to criticise the denial of public access to that most magnificent headland.

It has been sealed off from public view since an elitist golf links was built there in 1997.

Mr O’Neill’s letter is full of references to “outsiders, rent-a-crowd, trespassers” and other such terms. Thus, Mr O’Neill believes only those living in the immediate vicinity of a scenic gem like the Old Head of Kinsale are entitled to enjoy it. Pity, then, most of the local people are locked out just as I am.

Mr O’Neill may believe that tourism should be the preserve of the rich but it is the daytrippers, campers and caravanners who keep the tills of Kinsale ringing all year round.

Finally, Mr O’Neill seeks to lecture me about the laws of trespass. I am fully aware of such laws, which were brought in not to protect the ordinary householder but at the behest of the absentee landlords of the 19th century. They are the same laws currently being used to criminalise the people of Co Mayo for defending their homes and community, which are also under siege from the powerful and rich.

John Jefferies

5 Church Street

Cobh

Co Cork