James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputies for raising this very important matter that I am taking on behalf of the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, who sends his apologies for not being able to be present. He has asked me to assure the Deputies that his Department is deeply committed to the development of the national park in Mayo.

In December 2017, the Department with responsibility for heritage announced the expansion of Ballycroy National Park to include the area known as Wild Nephin. This expansion was the result of a long-standing collaborative project between Coillte and the NPWS of the Department. The addition of the Wild Nephin area and, separately, a private acquisition of 1,200 acres at Altnabrocky have expanded the total size of the park to more than 15,000 ha of the Nephin Beg mountain range. The expansion adds significantly to the overall biological diversity of the national park, which will be augmented further under park conservation management.

With the consolidation of the entire Wild Nephin area into the ownership of the NPWS, the potential for the park is enormous. One of the major advantages of this consolidation of land is that access to the national park, which historically had been problematic, will be greatly improved. The expanded park will be the key link from the Great Western Greenway going north into Bangor Erris and Ballycastle and will be an important tourist hub and a gateway for cyclists and hikers from the greenway into north Mayo.

These acquisitions also mean that some 65% of State-owned lands making up the park are outside the Ballycroy catchment area. Of the circa 15,000 ha making up the national park, 33% is in the parish of Ballycroy, 26% is in the parish of Kiltane, approximately 20% is in the parish of Burrishoole and 20% in the parish of Crossmolina. Included in this are the 4,200 ha leased from Coillte and the acquisition at Altnabrocky, neither of which is within the parish of Ballycroy.

The name change is intended to assist the integration of the original park and the newly acquired land fully into the Nephin Beg mountain range in the north Mayo landscape, to integrate with all the communities in the townlands in question and to provide a clearer indication of the location to tourists and reduce confusion, especially in terms of the Nephin wilderness area.

The new name provides a clearer indication and reflection of the entire landscape, which fully represents this unique area on an international platform, with International Union for Conservation of Nature recognition for Ireland's sixth national park.

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