Croagh Patrick conservation consultant to be appointed

PROGRESS Local councillors, Minister of State for Regional Economic Development Michael Ring TD, Cllr Al McDonnell, Cathaoirleach of Mayo County Council, other council, community, clergy and tourism representatives and members of the Croagh Patrick Stakeholders Group, including Chairman Martin Keating, and members of the Murrisk Development Association, are pictured in Murrisk at the launch of the new Croagh Patrick signage and information leaflet devised by the Croagh Patrick Stakeholders Group last Friday.?Pic: Conor McKeown

Áine Ryan

FOUR years after Mountaineering Ireland commissioned a report concluding Croagh Patrick needed a €1.5 million conservation plan, a local stakeholders group plans to appoint a consultant to design the conservation works, The Mayo News can confirm.  
The stakeholders’ group launched the first phase of measures to make the holy mountain safer in Murrisk over the weekend. A dedicated map marking the pilgrimage route on the 764-metre-high mountain, new signage and information boards, as well as ‘counters’ to determine precise numbers using the sacred site, have been introduced.
The Group’s Chairman, Mr Martin Keating, told The Mayo News that ‘liability’ issues were now a priority, with the implications of the recent judgement in the Teresa Wall vs NPWS (National Parks and Wildlife Services) case highlighting the central issues regarding indemnity.
Speaking to The Mayo News yesterday, Mr Keating said: “There is an inter-departmental group at national level looking at an Indemnity Scheme for upland areas. We held a positive meeting with department officials last Friday to highlight the urgency of introducing the indemnity scheme. Our immediate priority now is the appointment of a consultant and funding is already in place from the West Mayo Municipal District for this.”
Responding to Mayo News questions, Mr Keating said it was anticipated that the Department of Environment, FΡilte Ireland and Mayo County Council would fund the conservation project, which would also be supplemented by voluntary contributions from users.   
A statement ahead of the launch confirmed: “The group has also sourced historical ordnance survey mapping together with aerial photography and GIS mapping of the route from the car park to the summit. This will assist in establishing the current baseline for the condition of the mountain and how it has evolved over the last 150 years.”
The stakeholders group also visited Kerry during February last to view progress being made on path improvements in the MacGillicuddy Reeks.

Mountain rescue
A spokeswoman for Mayo Mountain Rescue (MMR) told The Mayo News yesterday that their volunteers have received 14 callouts to date this year, the last of which was on Sunday evening.
“Some of these callouts were serious, with one, in particular, involving head injuries which left the patient in Beaumont Hospital for several weeks,” Ms Ruth Cunniffe of MMR said.                   
At a seminar in Murrisk at the end of 2013, Scottish mountaineering expert Bob Aitken’s description of Croagh Patrick as ‘the worst-damaged pathway in the UK and Ireland’ was cited as a compelling reason for carrying out major conservation works outlined in  an expert report. Commissioned by Mountaineering Ireland, it was carried out by Elfyn Jones of the British Mountaineering Council, who concluded that the mountain, increasingly used by extreme-sports enthusiasts, needed a ‘large-scale intervention’ estimated to cost €1.5 million.
This view was supported by Mayo Mountain Rescue, ahead of last year’s Reek Sunday weekend when a spokesman stressed the urgency of remedial works, particularly along the steep conical area which is covered by loose shale.
It is estimated that well in excess of 100,000 people now climb the mountain each year, with some 30,000 climbing it over the Reek Sunday weekend at the end of July.