Unsightly and dangerously eroded gullies – they hardly qualify as paths – on the sides of Croagh Patrick are monuments to the failure of successive governments to legislate for hill-walking in unfenced upland areas, with attendant management and maintenance responsibilities. The extent of the damage caused to the Mayo mountain was exposed on television when the annual pilgrimage was officially cancelled. But an estimated 5,000 people still made the climb.
Croagh Patrick is a classic example of neglect, where commonage rights, overlapping ownerships, official reserve and an absence of clear legislation have allowed the mountain to become unsafe for pilgrims and casual walkers alike. The Catholic Church owns the oratory on the summit; the mountainside is held in commonage and the county council operates a car park and facilities at the bottom. Nobody, however, has taken responsibility for repairing the damage caused by foot traffic and erosion.
Blaming mountain runners makes little sense. They make up a tiny proportion of normal users. The age of bicycle-facilitated pilgrimages is long past. Had the weather been less life-threatening last Sunday, some 30,000 people would have gone up. Apart from that great surge of activity, a steady trickle of walkers ascend the mountain each day in summer and winter. Mountaineering Ireland has long expressed concern about the worsening situation. It wrote to councillors last year offering them its expertise for the repair and conservation of paths and estimating the cost at €1.5 million. Now, local councillors are urging their officials to come up with the money.
This long-standing neglect of a great natural resource, through lack of co-operation and poor management, is being replicated elsewhere. Increasingly, access to hills and mountains is being denied to tourists and visiting walkers. Successes like the Greenway and the Wild Atlantic Way show the benefits that official encouragement and local co-operation can bring. It is time to legislate for the greater public good.