Gardaí are currently making inquiries into an “alleged assault” on a landowner.
Mountaineering Ireland, the representative body for hillwalkers and climbers, separately claimed that the Zig-Zags walking trail in Glenmalure, Co. Wicklow has been closed due to a physical assault on landowner Pat Dunne.
Dunne, in a statement to Mountaineering Ireland, said he was “knocked to the ground” after repeatedly asking a man and a youth accompanying him to not bring their three dogs onto the track, before continuing up the mountain with the dogs.
Having permitted open access to Lugnaquilla via the Zig Zags for the last 16 years on private property, he said: “The only request in return for open access to our land was that no dogs were brought onto the mountain due to the disturbance they can cause to livestock.
“It is not an unreasonable request as we have had many instances of sheep being mauled by dogs on the mountain.
“However, over the years we have had many instances of verbal abuse with people as they ignored signage asking that dogs were not brought onto our lands. In one case this even resulted in a threat that our house ‘would be burnt down’.”
Mountaineering Ireland said the trail is located entirely on private lands and provided access from the base of Carrawaystick Waterfall towards Lugnaquilla. In a statement, the body requested people to not take dogs into the uplands without the landowner’s permission to do so.
Walking trail
“The Zig-Zags was an ‘Agreed Access Route’ facilitated through a formal Permissive Access Agreement between the landowner, Pat Dunne and County Wicklow Partnership,” the statement reads.
Commenting on the closure, Rural Recreation Officer with County Wicklow Partnership, Aaron Byrne said they completely support the Dunne family in their decision.
“The actions of this particular individual are completely unacceptable,” he said.
“The closure of the trail will come as a huge blow to all the recreational users who benefitted from the goodwill of the Dunne family, and enjoyed access to the mountains through their lands,” he added.
‘Disgraceful attack’ on landowner
The president of the Irish Farmers’ Association (IFA), Tim Cullinan condemned the assault which, he said, was a “disgraceful attack” on a landowner who was one of the first in Ireland to allow an agreed access route across his lands.
Describing this type of incident as a “serious setback” for the relationship between landowners and recreational users, he said nobody can blame the farmer for closing off access when he’s subject to this kind of behaviour.
IFA Sheep chair Kevin Comiskey said dog attacks are causing unimaginable suffering for sheep and lambs and huge economic losses for farmers. Dogs should not be allowed in or near farmland, he said, urging all dog owners to behave in a responsible way.