Madam, - Sean Mac Connell's feature "The upside of hill farming"(September 25th) quotes a study of hill-farming in Iveragh, Co Kerry as follows: "The rewilding of the uplands. . . makes hill-walking more difficult". ("Rewilding" refers to the ungrazed uplands that result when sheep are brought down to more convenient locations.)
Are the authors of this study even remotely aware of the context? Hill walkers have no legal right to walk even the most worthless mountain land. Recently, there have been instances of farmers turning away walkers from such areas, of threatening and even assaulting them, and of demanding money to allow access. Unsurmountable barbed-wire fences are a constant problem, especially in the west of Ireland.
The minor hazard of having to find one's way through high vegetation caused by the possible withdrawal of sheep is nothing compared with the obstacles walkers now face. In fact, considering the denuded hillsides farmers have left behind them by putting far too many sheep onto hillsides to maximise grants, the hills will be much more pleasant areas to walk.
No, what will make hill-walking more difficult, with the consequent loss of agri-tourism revenue, is not the absence of sheep. It is - and will continue to be - the myopic greed of the farmers themselves, unless they are faced down. - Yours, etc,
DAVID HERMAN,
Meadow Grove,
Dublin 16.