IFA president, Tim Cullinan has condemned the actions of the walker who, he said, carried out a ‘disgraceful attack’ on a landowner who was ‘one of the first in the country to allow an agreed access route across his lands over 15 years ago’.
Pat Dunne had continued to grant access to the popular Zig-Zags agreed access route in the Glenmalure valley, despite ongoing issues relating to walkers bringing their dogs onto his land, blatantly ignoring the signs that did not permit dogs on the land. But the recent assault on the farmer has led him to close down that access route.
“Mountaineering Ireland has come out strongly and condemned this attack and I want to acknowledge their support for Pat Dunne and his family,” said the IFA president. The Dunne family, he said, had asked walkers not to bring dogs with them because of incidents involving attacks on sheep, but these requests were not respected. Although this physical assault was an isolated incident, it has done nothing “to further cooperation between landowners and recreational users” the president said.
IFA sheep chair, Kevin Comiskey, said the IFA’s campaign No Dogs Allowed is now in its third year and action from the authorities will have to be forthcoming.
He said this is a critical time of year on sheep farms as lambing is underway.
“Dog attacks are causing unimaginable suffering for sheep and lambs and huge economic losses for farmers,” he said, and he is urging all dog owners to behave in a responsible way.
In a statement, Mountaineering Ireland reiterated the message that action in relation to dog control is needed in the outdoors.
Chair of Mountaineering Ireland’s Access and Conservation Committee, Alan Lauder, said he was ‘sickened and disheartened that Pat has suffered this assault’. “He has worked closely with those in the access and recreation community to enable responsible access over his land and by doing so, has helped thousands of people to enjoy the Wicklow Mountains.” He added: “The individual responsible has forced Pat to close this access route and, in turn, has affected us all in the hillwalking community. We will support Pat and the Dunne family in recovering from this incident, and we add reassurance that the issues of responsible access, and of dogs in the uplands, will feature at the top of our agenda for action.
“Unfortunately, this situation illustrates how the poor behaviour of one individual can result in a loss of access that affects the wider recreation community. The presence of dogs, on land where signage makes clear that dogs are not permitted, was a key factor, as was the man’s failure to respect the request not to go up the hill with his dogs.”