The level of payment farmers receive for maintaining walks on their farm for the public along the Cliffs of Moher has been questioned by Clare Local Development Company (CLDC).

“The problem with the scheme is that it’s the same all across the country,” Eoin Hogan of CLDC said.

“If you have a farmer on the Suck Valley Way in Roscommon that gets 2,000 walkers a year, compared with the Cliffs of Moher that gets 500,000 walkers a year, they’re getting the same payment, and you could say that there’s a lot more work involved to maintain their trail.”

The Walks Scheme was introduced by former Minister for Community Éamon Ó Cúiv in 2009, with almost 1,900 farmers across Ireland involved and receiving an average payment of €1,100.

We’re a league above any other walking trail in the country

Some 36 farmers have signed up to the scheme along the Cliffs of Moher and Eoin Hogan of CLDC told an assembled crowd at the Burren Storehouse during the Irish Farmers Journal and CLDC networking event, that farmers along the cliffs deal with a significantly higher level of foot traffic compared with any other walk in the country.

“Even if you look at the Hags Head end or the Doolin end you still get 70,000 to 80,000 people just hiking the walk," Hogan said.

“The Sheeps Head Loop and the Wicklow Way are only averaging 20,000 to 40,000 walkers.

“We’re a league above any other walking trail in the country, so there’s obviously an impact on the environment and we’re responding to that challenge.”

Agri tourism

Despite concerns raised over the level of payments, farmers along the cliffs have largely embraced tourism in the area.

One local farmer, Martin Guerin, told the assembled audience that agri tourism was the way he saw things going into the future of his farm and family, if they continued farming.

“It might seem like simple stuff to us, but tourists get an awful lot out of meeting a local farmer and getting a guided walk across their land,” Guerin said.

“It’s the way I see things going for my family if they decide to farm in the future and the walks scheme has helped to provide that.”

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