Tuesday, May 10, 2011

Croagh Patrick in danger from over-use and weather

A prominent west of Ireland priest has warned that Croagh Patrick is becoming a victim of its own success and that the path up to the summit needs to be protected.

Fr Michael MacGreil said he is now “very worried” about the state of the path, because of the volume of pilgrims, tourists and hill-walkers who climb it.  

He said the growing number of climbers of the mountain is now cutting into the mountain and their heels are digging into the shale on the path.

This, combined with the erosion effects of weathering, he warned, meant that something has to be done to preserve the path and secure the future of the Reek.

“It is not like when pilgrims went up in their bare feet – they didn’t damage the path,” he said.  

“If we don’t do something about Croagh Patrick it won’t be there in the future.”

Fr MacGreil was addressing the annual general meeting of the Western Tourism Organisation.

A former sociology lecturer at Maynooth, he is the author of a tourism survey on Westport and a campaigner for the re-opening of rail links in the west of Ireland.

Fr MacGreil told the WTO that they should focus on domestic tourism because “holidaying at home is the patriotic thing to do” and said that if people spent their holidays at home, they are “supporting Ireland.”

In recent years, the number of people climbing Croagh Patrick on Reek Sunday each summer alone is 25,000.

Fr MacGreil’s warning follows remarks last year by Mayo Mountain Rescue chief Colm Byrne who said that injuries to climbers of the mountain are increasing due to erosion and called for safety maintenance to be carried out on the main path to the top.

Meanwhile, an international hill walking tour operator, Hoofbeats International, recently told its customers travelling to the west of Ireland “you do not ascend to the summit of Croagh Patrick Mountain owing to the steepness and erosion of the track near the top which is considered unsuitable.”