Farmer withdraws access to hill walkers after assault

A farmer who allowed hillwalkers access to his lands in County Wicklow has withdrawn his permission after he was assaulted by dog walkers.

Pat Dunne always allowed people who were trekking to and from Lugnaquilla, Leinster’s highest mountain, access to his land under the strict instructions that dogs were not allowed on the walkway. Over St Patrick’s weekend Mr Dunne requested that two males with three dogs honour his clear “No Dogs Allowed” signs at the entrance to the mountain trail on his farm.

He was pushed to the ground and held there while the perpetrator’s accomplice proceeded to bring the dogs on to land where there was livestock.

As a result Mr Dunne closed this popular route to all recreational walkers. Keep Ireland Open, an organisation which seeks to protect and extend access to the countryside for responsible recreational users, condemned the attack on Mr Dunne.

“To ask a person not to bring dogs up a mountainside was absolutely correct, especially at a time when sheep are lambing. Anyone with an ounce of sense or knowledge of the countryside should know that," Robert Dowds, the Keep Ireland Open Chairperson, said.

“Keep Ireland Open has been aware for several years about Mr Dunne's generosity in terms of giving access to the Zig Zag path in Glenmalure, one of the most important paths in Wicklow. This makes the alleged attack on him very serious for the general public as well in that it restricts access in Glenmalure and may make other landowners wary of granting access. We hope the Gardaí get to the bottom of what happened and that, if someone is found guilty of an offence, he gets the severest punishment possible.”