A west of Ireland hotel group has apologised to farmers for not engaging with all of the landowners affected by an upcoming hiking festival.

The Westport Hotel Group conceded that mistakes made in the early stages of planning for the Westport Hiking Festival had “caused inconvenience and distress” to landowners.

“The Westport Hotel Group has long established a track record of positive engagement with landowners in the uplands through its participation in the Croagh Patrick Stakeholder Group,” a spokesperson for the hotel group said.

“In planning the upcoming Westport Hiking Festival, we engaged positively with the Croagh Patrick Stakeholder Group, but inadvertently included an area of commonage not aligned to the Croagh Patrick Stakeholder Group in the event,” the spokesperson admitted.

Changed route

“As soon as this was brought to our attention, we changed the event route to run on walks included in the National Walks Scheme and the path on Croagh Patrick under the remit of the Croagh Patrick Stakeholders Group,” she added.

“We have apologised to the landowners involved for the error on our part and advised them of the route change,” the spokesperson said.

“The Westport Hotel Group has the upmost respect for landowners in the uplands and has demonstrated this locally through its support of the Croagh Patrick Stakeholders Group over a long number of years,” the spokesperson insisted.

The Westport Hiking Festival takes place on 18 and 19 October and includes guided hikes for various grades of hill walkers. The hikes cost €99.

Last week, the Irish Natura and Hill Farmers Association (INHFA) slated the attitude of those organising hill walking tours and festivals.

“It is incredible to the point of being contemptuous that the organisers of these tours seem to think that they have a right to make money on the back of someone else’s property and not even have the basic decency to inform the farmers involved and ask their permission,” said INHFA president Vincent Roddy.

“Unfortunately, when tour groups organise walks without farmer consent then they are compromising this goodwill, and everyone loses,” Roddy maintained.