A €5.3 million initiative to provide outdoor recreation facilities for walkers and cyclists across the State has been unveiled by Coillte and Fáilte Ireland.
The initiative provides 250km of walking, hiking and biking trails at 34 sites, as well as a website to help people, especially visitors from abroad, research and plan activities in Ireland.
The initiative includes investment in new and existing walking trails, car parks, way marking and signage, as well as mountain biking and family cycling.
New signage has been designed to increase public awareness of the access to the countryside that Coillte lands provide. Funding for the project came from Fáilte Ireland, through its Forest Recreation Infrastructure Upgrading Programme.
The Welcome Initiative was jointly launched in Coillte headquarters in Co Wicklow yesterday by Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs Éamon Ó Cuív and Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture Mary Wallace.
The locations of the sites include stretches of the Wicklow Way; Donadea Forest Park, Co Kildare; Carrick Wood, Brittas and the Slieve Bloom Way in Co Laois; Portumna Forest Park and the Western Way in Co Galway; the Western Way in Co Mayo, Ards Forest Park and Drumboe in Co Donegal; Deerpark, Co Sligo; Ravensdale Co Louth; Mullaghmeen, Co Westmeath; Ballycuggeran, Co Clare; Guagan Barra Forest Park and Corrin, in Co Cork; and Glanteenassig in Co Cork.
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