EDITORIAL: ‘Friends of Croagh Patrick’ initiative deserves public’s support

The Croagh Patrick Stakeholders group last week launched the ‘Friends of Croagh Patrick’ initiative, and there is no doubt that the fundraising drive deserves the support of the wider community.
For many years, there was huge concern that Mayo’s famous mountain was becoming increasingly dangerous. There seemed to be a reluctance to tackle the issue due to concerns over insurance issues and the threat of legal action from climbers injured on the climb.
However, the establishment of the Croagh Patrick Stakeholder’s Group in 2015 paved the way forward for progress. Last week’s launch of the fundraising campaign and a new website is the culmination of years of hard work that has now made the mountain a much safer place for all the pilgrims who make the climb on a daily basis.
In 2020, local landowners, Mayo County Council, the Catholic Church and Mountaineering Ireland began a restoration project with €480,000 in Government funding.
Project manager Matt McConway began constructing a new designated path for pilgrims with the help of Bernard Burke, David Doyle, Frank McMahon and Marcos Tulio Periera de Jesus, as well as volunteers from Mountaineering Ireland.

Painstaking work
Their painstaking work finished recently, and as a result there is now a much safer path to the top of the mountain.
Great credit must go to the Chairperson of the Stakeholder’s Group, Martin Keating, who summarised the need for the work to take place at last week’s launch.
“The mountain was eroded, it was uncared-for, and I think as a group and as a community, we have turned that around. So the aim of the initiative is that we would raise some money locally to co-finance with the project’s co-operators, which have been Mayo County Council and the Department of Community Affairs,” said Mr Keating.
Last week’s launch comes at the perfect time, with the annual pilgrimage, Reek Sunday, set to take place at the end of this month, on July 28.
Fr John Kenny of St Mary’s Church in Westport has invited other priests from around the country to Minister on Croagh Patrick for Reek Sunday.
Speaking at the launch of Friends of Croagh Patrick, Fr Kenny thanked and welcomed former Westport curate, Fr Charlie McDonnell, who also played a huge part in securing the future health of the mountain during his time in Westport.
The mountain remains one of the main tourist attractions in Ireland and although the annual pilgrimage attracts the largest number of climbers over that weekend, people climb the Reek every day of the year.
The website, www.croaghpatrick.net, is full of information on how the last decade of work has played out and now the next step is to fund the ongoing maintenance of the mountain for many years to come.

Ongoing maintenance
It states: “Sustainable solutions require sustained effort. There are different levels of maintenance requiring corresponding skills, some of which could be done with voluntary effort. Minor repairs to stone structures and remedial adjustments to address changes of use will require skilled workers, but ongoing clearance of drainage and minor surfacing repairs could be done by adequately trained and supervised volunteers. The Group is committed to the long-term maintenance of the work and feels that the implementation approach will deliver the skills and capacity to do this.
“In parallel with the efforts to reduce the physical damage to Croagh Patrick, measures will be put in place to help reduce the pressure on the mountain so that the experience for every visitor is as high as possible. This will involve an ongoing programme promoting appropriate use, managing expectations and encouraging people to consider their potential impact on Croagh Patrick as well as helping them to understand the historical and cultural significance of the mountain, through interpretation. This will be actioned through the use of an Event Assessment Tool based on the Mountaineering Ireland Guidelines for Events in Upland Areas.”
It is indeed heartening that a clear plan is now in place to protect Croagh Patrick, and by backing the ‘Friends of Croagh Patrick’ initiative, the public too can play their part in the whole process.