Madam, - Each year the same names appear on this page debating the issue of public rights of way. Occasionally a newcomer enters the fray, but fresh initiatives on the issue are rare. The recent grasping gesture of the Irish Farmers' Association was not very helpful, but neither are the bullish demands from some of the hill-walkers. Indeed bullish behaviour has increasingly characterised the conflict on both sides.
As the controversy rages away, a valuable, sustainable tourism resource is being lost. Equally seriously, access to many parts of our landscape is increasingly denied to Irish citizens and visitors alike - not just our uplands, but also our small strands, coves, fishing rocks, cliff walks, headlands, heritage sites, green roads, lake shores, river banks, even our field hedgerows for autumn fruits and more besides.
It is not simply a farmers versus walkers controversy, nor is it confined to the rural landscape.
Good governance is about dealing in time with serious issues, preferably before they become contentious and potential sources of conflict. The whole issue of public rights of way has been sadly ignored by successive governments and local authorities.
The initiative of Éamon Ó Cuív with Comhairle na Tuaithe was a long overdue beginning, but the vacuum that has been allowed to develop needs a much stronger, more decisive approach if we are not to limp on from crisis to crisis.
What is needed now is a public rights of way commission empowered to require all local authorities to record all rights of way in the country, classifying them into various categories - from those that are undisputed and used regularly, if not daily, to those that are almost extinct and/or legally disputed. The entire landscape must be addressed.
The commission should be required to establish appropriate constitutional resolution procedures to be followed for disputed rights of way. These procedures should then be legislated for to enable them to be dealt with at District or Circuit Court level.
The terms of reference for the commission should be to establish a legal, fair, nationally beneficial and rational basis for governing public rights of way throughout the country. The valid concerns of all sides must be addressed within a balanced framework of the common good and property rights. The commission must, however, have a time limit: a five-year term may be adequate provided the commission and the local authorities are adequately resourced.
The investment required would yield quite a rapid return and we would have the added benefit of ending to the dreary, repetitious series of letters to the Editor on this subject. - Yours, etc,
TERRY O'REGAN,
Maple Lawn,
Ballincollig,
Co Cork.