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Coastal Walks Could Be Part of 2.4 Million Euro Trail Development Scheme

27th February 2023
Coastal farmers and landowners, trail management committees, community groups and local authorities will be eligible to apply for grants under the scheme, which aims to increase outdoor trails from 80 to 150 over the next two years
Coastal farmers and landowners, trail management committees, community groups and local authorities will be eligible to apply for grants under the scheme, which aims to increase outdoor trails from 80 to 150 over the next two years

Coastal walks could become national trails under a €2.4 million scheme to develop 70 new walking trails across the country.

Coastal farmers and landowners, trail management committees, community groups and local authorities will be eligible to apply for grants under the scheme, which aims to increase outdoor trails from 80 to 150 over the next two years.

The new scheme has been rolled out by Minister for Rural and Community Development, Heather Humphreys, who has called for expressions of interest, with a closing date of June 23rd.

The Walks Scheme was launched in 2008 to facilitate the development and maintenance of key walking trails by private landholders.

Minister for Rural and Community Development, Heather HumphreysMinister for Rural and Community Development, Heather Humphreys

The scheme is administered by 20 Local Development Companies (LDCs) on behalf of the department.

Ms Humphrey’s department funds 21 Rural Recreation Officers (RROs) in these LDCs, with a contribution from Fáilte Ireland.

The tourism body assists with the delivery of the scheme and supports other rural recreation initiatives at a local level.

More information on the National Outdoor Recreation Strategy 2023-2027 is here.

Published in Coastal Notes
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Coastal Notes Coastal Notes covers a broad spectrum of stories, events and developments in which some can be quirky and local in nature, while other stories are of national importance and are on-going, but whatever they are about, they need to be told.

Stories can be diverse and they can be influential, albeit some are more subtle than others in nature, while other events can be immediately felt. No more so felt, is firstly to those living along the coastal rim and rural isolated communities. Here the impact poses is increased to those directly linked with the sea, where daily lives are made from earning an income ashore and within coastal waters.

The topics in Coastal Notes can also be about the rare finding of sea-life creatures, a historic shipwreck lost to the passage of time and which has yet many a secret to tell. A trawler's net caught hauling more than fish but cannon balls dating to the Napoleonic era.

Also focusing the attention of Coastal Notes, are the maritime museums which are of national importance to maintaining access and knowledge of historical exhibits for future generations.

Equally to keep an eye on the present day, with activities of existing and planned projects in the pipeline from the wind and wave renewables sector and those of the energy exploration industry.

In addition Coastal Notes has many more angles to cover, be it the weekend boat leisure user taking a sedate cruise off a long straight beach on the coast beach and making a friend with a feathered companion along the way.

In complete contrast is to those who harvest the sea, using small boats based in harbours where infrastructure and safety poses an issue, before they set off to ply their trade at the foot of our highest sea cliffs along the rugged wild western seaboard.

It's all there, as Coastal Notes tells the stories that are arguably as varied to the environment from which they came from and indeed which shape people's interaction with the surrounding environment that is the natural world and our relationship with the sea.