Coillte has been in contact with An Garda Síochána as part of enforcement efforts aimed at protecting the Slieve Bloom mountain bike trails.

The organisation has said that the use of off-road scrambler motorcycles, quad bikes, and other all-terrain vehicles is not permitted on Coillte lands.

It is still unclear how much of the damage to the trails was caused by Storm Éowyn, but Coillte has said it will continue to work closely with gardaí to deter the use of unauthorised vehicles on the trail network.

Independent TD for Offaly, Carol Nolan, recently highlighted the damage that is being caused to the trails from the illegal use of all-terrain vehicles.

“I am delighted to see that Coillte is committed to adopting a very firm policy on this matter and that it is continuing to liaise with the gardai to deter the use of these unauthorised vehicles on the Slieve Bloom mountain bike trail network,” Deputy Nolan said.

There are around 80km of new mountain bike trails, with trailheads at Kinnitty and Baunreagh, developed by Coillte in partnership with Offaly and Laois County Councils.

Deputy Nolan has praised Coillte on how it responded to the damage caused to the trails.

“Coillte has made it explicitly clear that while it has developed a series of bye-laws which outline and specify activities which are not permitted on Coillte lands, unless specifically authorised under licence, this does not apply to scramblers, quad bikes and the other all-terrain vehicles that are the source of the problem,” she said.

“I appreciate that the agency does rely on An Garda Síochana for enforcement of these bye-laws and that is why I will be working to ensure that our gardaí have sufficient resources available to them to enable the kind of routine enforcement that we need to see happen to protect this valuable local resource from further levels of deterioration,” Deputy Nolan concluded.