Farm ‘walkers’ raise ire as signs ignored amid hostility

Lockdown is said to have seen an increase in the amount of walkers and other unauthorised visitors around farms as signs indicating private property are ignored in many cases, much to landowners’ ire.

One Limerick farmer, who asked not to be named, told AgriLand that he has an ongoing problem with trespassers. He said that he had gone to the trouble of getting signs made and erecting them on his farm but that eight strands of barbed wire failed to drive the message home as did the signs.

“The wire was cut and the signs were stolen. I keep replacing them,” he commented. “There is an attitude out there that signs are for everyone else but not me.”

Continuing, he said: “My farm is on the banks of the river Shannon and I have constant problems with walkers and people fishing.”

He said that almost everyone tells him, when challenged, that there is a right of way along the riverbank which he had enquired about and understood not to be the case.

Trees cut down

The list of incidents on his farm is long, he said.

“The list goes on and on and even though I have caught some of the perpetrators and called the Gardaí who took names from them, still nothing happens. We are the ones who have no rights,” the Limerick farmer said.

“I have had many confrontations with people who I have challenged. Sometimes they are apologetic and didn’t realise they were doing wrong, that is the position they take with me anyway.

A lot of people can be downright aggressive and I would imagine that I would be assaulted on occasion were it not for the fact that I am an able bodied person in my 40s. I would not like to be an older person dealing with some of these people.

Last week, Meath farmer Mark Delany highlighted situations on his farm, including people cycling down a hill in a field of potatoes, jumping on haylage and climbing a 6ft bank and going over three fences to a field of heifers.

Some think it’s a game and want to be chased, he said. He recalled that his uncle, who has sheep, found that one person to be very aggressive when asked to leave.

Julie Regan in Moycullen, Co. Galway, said that she had seen an increase in the number of walkers on their narrow road where neighbours are cocooning.

In one case, a couple with a blanket seemed to be looking for a sunbathing spot and when followed, were hostile and said that signs hadn’t been erected. They are worried about dogs running through fields, gates being left open and animals unsettled by walkers, she said.

Legislative changes

Galway-based solicitor Greg Nolan said that, in Ireland, it has been said by walking enthusiasts that we have a regressive and oppressive attitude and laws pertaining to walkers’ rights over land.

“However, many landowners feel that the protection of the landowners’ rights are necessary to protect their property and their livelihoods. Like most matters concerning land, it is an emotive issue.

“With skyrocketing insurance and an ever-increasing claim culture, a legal claim could have negative ramifications. Most Irish farms are actual working farms and little incentive appears to have been provided to them to open their land to the public.

The ‘freedom to roam’ arrangements that exists in other countries does not apply here. By and large, unless it is a recognised public right of way, an established right of way in your favour, a national park or an express arrangement is in place with the landowner, then you do not have the right to walk through private land.

“The constitution, at article 43, has set down inalienable rights to private property that landowners can seek to rely on. However, this article is also to be regulated by the principles of social justice. Compelling arguments exists on both sides to bring about legislative changes that can strike a balance between the two,” the Galway solicitor said.

“If a landowner has been intimidated or threatened then he should report the matter to the Gardai in the first instance. If that does not resolve matters, then the matter can be pursued as a civil claim through the courts where an injunction or some other civil remedy can be sought,” he said.

“Common sense, respect and pragmatism should prevail at all times. If someone insists on being abusive, belligerent, destructive or unaccepting of the situation where it is clear that someone is trespassing, then a careful note should be taken of what was said and then passed on to the Gardai or a solicitor where appropriate to do so.”