I have no direct responsibility for the management of the Dublin and Wicklow Mountains. My Department administers the Walks Scheme, which covers the development, enhancement and maintenance of National Waymarked Ways and priority walks. This scheme is managed locally by the relevant Local Development Company who liaise with the private landowners on a trail, and process payments in respect of the maintenance works carried out by the landowners. The Walks Scheme is in place on the Wicklow Way.
Where such activity has been reported on the Wicklow Way, steps have been taken, in consultation with private landowners and others, to restrict access to that route by having locks fitted to gates to prevent access by certain vehicles. This has proven to be a generally successful intervention on this trail.
With regard to damage that may have been caused to 5,000 year old cairns, this is a matter for my colleague, the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht.
I am of course also aware of the damage that has been, and is being, caused in sensitive areas by the indiscriminate use of scrambler bikes and quads; however, I have no powers to ban such vehicles on private lands. The use of quads is commonplace among the farming community in upland areas and is an important aspect of their ability to operate effectively in such areas. The control of such machinery on private land is a matter for the landowner unless the particular area is a designated Special Area of Conservation, a Special Protection Area or a National Heritage Area in which case, it would be a matter for the National Parks and Wildlife Service and the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht.
In relation to Co. Wicklow, I understand that the Wicklow Outdoor Recreation Committee consists of all the major landowners in the area of the Wicklow Mountains including relevant State Agencies such as Coillte and the National Parks and Wildlife Service. Local landowners are also represented, as is Wicklow County Council. Contact should be made be made in the first instance with the relevant Director of Services in Wicklow County Council. State Agencies and Local Authorities are in a position to introduce Bye Laws to manage unwanted activities on their own lands.
