The awarding of a reported €40,000 in damages to a Co Dublin woman who cut her knee while hill walking is a serious concern for farmers, IFA hill committee chair Pat Dunne said.

Teresa Wall of Swords, Co Dublin, successfully sued the National Park and Wildlife Service after falling on a rotting board on a trail on the Wicklow Way in 2013. The ruling may yet be appealed.

Reassurances for farmers

Dunne said such a judgement will make farmers very wary of the consequences where hill walkers ramble off designated routes.

Pat Dunne said that this matter was now being discussed at the Comhairle na Tuaithe, a recreational body in the Department of the Environment, in order to give farmers and landowners “reassurances that their rights are protected and that no such claims could arise on private lands”.

The IFA said the development of walkways should be done through agreement and that where claims arise, farmers must be indemnified.

Response

Responding to the judgment Mountaineering Ireland President, Paul Kellagher, stated that "the mountaineering community has a long-held and proud tradition of personal responsibility."

He added that the "judgment runs contrary to this long established principle. We cannot continue to live our lives without the acceptance of personal responsibility, in the belief that every misfortune is someone else’s responsibility."

The hill walkers' group added that the legislation cited in the recent case applies where structures are provided for use primarily by recreational users. "The occupiers’ duty of care is minimal in situations where structures are not for use primarily by recreational users," adding that a farmer has no consequences to fear should somebody wander off a designated route.