Rónán Mullen (Independent)

In the context of congratulating our young friends from Birr a few minutes ago, I had a conversation with them, which turned to the topic of the Camino de Santiago de Compostela, in which many of us have a great interest. We have our own very fine walking routes in Ireland, such as the increasingly popular St. Declan's Way between counties Tipperary and Waterford. There is also the famous Beara-Breifne Way, which commemorates the famous and ill-fated march by Donal Cam O’Sullivan Beare and his followers in the wake of the Battle of Kinsale in the early 1600s. The march started with 1,000 people but only a couple of dozen people survived the long walk, having suffered from hunger, violence and all the rest. Over the years, huge work has been done on various sections of the Beara-Breifne Way. I think of people like Jim O'Sullivan in the Beara area and Paddy Naughton on the Hymany Way, which covers my own neck of the woods and that part of the Beara-Breifne Way. Senator Scahill probably lives in the Suck Valley section of the route.

It would be timely for a Minister, presumably the Minister for tourism, to update us on the plans for the Beara-Breifne route. Quite apart from the health and recreational benefits for our own people, the amenity has the potential to be a huge part of Ireland's Hidden Heartlands tourism offering. As members of the Oireachtas who come from different parts of the country, we should pay attention to the potential of these kinds of amenities and do our best to support them.

It would be timely for the House to have a debate on Ireland's walking routes as it would allow us time to focus on some of them. We could have a discussion on what Members can do to support them and what steps need to be taken to enable each of these routes to fulfil their potential. I refer in particular today to the Beara-Breifne route but this would apply to the other routes and hiking and walking activities in Ireland. There are health, tourism and economic dividends. I ask for a debate to be arranged in the near future.