As the tourism experts tell us, walking tops the list of activities that visitors want to do when they come to Sligo. Whether they have a few hours or a few days to spend here, almost everyone wants to do a walk of some sort. Whether it’s a beach walk at Rosses Point, a forest walk beneath Benbulben or a hike up Knocknarea on the Queen Maeve Trail, the walks are increasingly popular for one and all.
One of the main challenges we have to deal with at Sligo Walks is to ensure the sustainability and protection of the walks themselves. Overwalking is a challenge that faces the developers of walks in many popular places. In nearby counties like Mayo (Croagh Patrick) and Donegal (Mount Errigal), for example, the authorities there have had to take very significant steps – literally – to protect the walks in the face of major increases in walking numbers. In both places, the walking trails were repurposed, steps were added to facilitate the walkers and to protect the terrain. But the counter argument is whether it is a progressive move to add infrastructure that fundamentally changes the topography of a mountain and will likely lead to even more visitors walking the slopes.
There are arguments both in favour and against such moves and, while Sligo still has some way to go to match these counties in terms of visitor numbers, that said, with increasing numbers of people walking on our county’s trails, it is pertinent that we look towards the future to ensure the sustainable development of our walks.
To this end, the development of an Outdoor Recreation Strategy for Sligo is to be welcomed. Currently, engagement is taking place between various stakeholders to prioritise actions that will determine the future use of all of our outdoor spaces, including walking trails. A pilot scheme is being run in six counties, Sligo among them, which has seen the appointment of Trish Kane as Outdoor Recreation Officer here in Sligo under the auspices of Sligo Sport and Recreation Partnership.
A keen hillwalker and former mountain rescue team member, Trish has returned to Sligo after years of living abroad, where her experiences of walking in places as far flung as Australia and Nepal will help inform what we can do to plan for the future development of walking trails here.
“There are really some interesting things coming out of those conversations,” she says of her interactions with interest groups and communities so far about what Sligo could do to further improve the walks. “At trailheads, better signage, giving people the information they need, somewhere to fill your water bottle at the start of the walks, some facilities, toilets, perhaps. All of these amenities cost money and of course there’s maintenance involved in them as well,” she adds, indicating that there’s a balance to be struck between public requirements and how we pay for and maintain these facilities. “Access is another one. Obviously we have a cohort of people, maybe young Mums who have buggies, maybe elderly people who have mobility aids, wheelchairs. So there’s a lot of consideration being given to how do we make our trails and walks more accessible.”
She adds that while we have these wonderful walking resources right here on our doorstep, her role, and that of the Sligo Sport & Recreation Partnership, is to encourage more participation in healthy activities, and walking is the best route to becoming and staying active.
Adding that she has been watching the new Sligo Walks videos that highlight how to access two of our most popular walks – The Sligo Way and Killaspugbrone Coastal Trail in Strandhill – using public transport, Trish adds that this is an issue that has also come up for discussion.
“What do we need to do to get more people out? How do we access those people who find it difficult to get to the trails because they don’t have transport or there’s a lack of public transport. These are all things that are coming into these conversations and it will be interesting to see over the next 3-4 months how we manage to whittle down some of those critical themes that are emerging.”
Members of the public can still get involved in the discussion ahead of the formulation of the Outdoor Recreation Strategy for Sligo, which is expected to be completed by early 2025 and which will be rolled out for the following 5 years. A number of public consultation meetings will take place in January at which members of the public will be able to raise issues. Once adapted, an Outdoor Recreation Committee will be formed to oversee and implement the Strategy, which will also include key objectives drawn from the National Strategy 2023-2027. By linking together the interest groups and agreeing a pathway forward, this should lead to increased funding opportunities for further trail development and improvements.
These future plans also need to have environmental measures front and centre. Trish concludes by saying that the core decisions need to be agreed with these key stakeholders. “You need to make sure that you are engaging really well with the likes of (National) Parks & Wildlife, especially if it’s a Special Area of Conservation, the Biodiversity Officer, the landowners, of course, as well – very significant stakeholders. There’s a lot of talking and communicating that needs to be done to make sure we make decisions that are good for everyone, but particularly for our environment, the flora and fauna, the beautiful spaces that we want to use.”