ROLE AND TACTICS OF KIO

KIO’s Role

It is our belief that the Access issue has it’s greatest impact at a local level. The loss of a walking route , or access to a beach, invariably hurts the local people most. On this basis, the role of KIO is to nurture and support local people in defending access to their amenities and in arriving at solutions. We can do this best by providing the following supports:

Communications - local issues are notified to the national membership through our newsletter

Publicity - a national body has easier access to the media

Lobbying - our Dublin based organisation can raise issues with Ministers and politicians

Influencing Policy - Legislation, Development Plans, EU supports

Organisation of PR Events and Protests

Fund Raising

Legal challenges - a last resort

The critical element in our work is information. We can only act on the cases that we know of, so there may be many more problems out there than we are aware of. It is up to the public to help us help them

KIO’s Tactics

In order to nip access problems in the bud KIO have been working hard for the past few years: we are aiming to prevent future access problems as much as we are trying to solve existing ones. The KIO approach is reasonable, and is based on the belief that people are normally not bad minded. Our usual course of action involves the following steps in the search for a solution:

1. Research the problem.

2. Identify a local representative where possible.

3. Dialogue with the landowner.

4. Mediate through a local forum where such exists.

*5. Raise the matter with the local authority, informally at first, to establish the planning background and see if there is a willingness to deal with the issue.

6. Make a formal complaint to the local authority.

7. Lobby politicians if Government pressure is appropriate.

8. Public protest.

9. Legal challenge.

In all cases it is our hope to defuse the problem before getting too far down the list!

*We are delighted to report that Heritage Officers have been appointed by several local authorities with what we understand to be a brief on rights of way and access issues. It remains to be seen how effective they will be with the various issues that continually arise in the countryside.

Listed below is a full list of existing Heritage Officers which we are led to believe will be increased to thirty six.

County Council	Telephone No.	Heritage Officers	Address
Carlow	(0503) 70300	Lorcan Scott	County Buildings, Athy Road, Carlow
Clare	(065) 6821616	Congella Maguire	New Road, Ennis, Co. Clare.
Cork	(021) 4276891 (County Hall)	Sharon Casey	C/o SWRA, Inismore, Ballincollig, Co.Cork
Galway	(091) 509000	Marie Mannion	Forward Planning Section, County Buildings, Prospect Hill, Galway.
Kerry	(066) 7121111	Una Cosgrove	Áras an Chontae, Tralee, Co. Kildare
Leitrim	(078) 20005	Bernie Guest	Governor House, Carrick - on - Shannon, Co. Leitrim.
Limerick	(061) 318477	Tom O'Neill	79/84 O'Connell Street, Limerick.
Laois/Offaly	(0506) 46800	Amanda Pedlow	C/o Offaly County Council, Courthouse, Tullamore, Co. Offaly.
Roscommon	(0903) 37100	Nollaig McKeown	Courthouse, Roscommon.
Sligo	(071) 56666	Siobhan Ryan	County Development Centre, Cleveragh, Co. Sligo
Tipperary (NR)	(067) 31771	Siobhan Geraghty	Courthouse, Nenagh, Co. Tipperary.
Tipperary (SR)	(052) 25399	Brendan Mc Sharry	County Hall, Clonmel, Co. Tipperary.
Longford/Westmeath	(044) 40861	Gerry Clabby	C/o Westmeath Co Co, County Buildings, Mullingar, Co. Westmeath.
Wocklow	(0404) 20100	Deirdre Burns	County Offices, Wicklow.
City Council	Telephone No.	Heritage Officers	Address
Dublin	(01) 6722222	Donncha O Dulaing	Civic Offices, Wood Quay, Dublin 8.
Galway	(091) 536400	Jim Higgins	Town Hall, College Road, Galway.

KIO & Liaison with other groups

In dealing with the Access issue KIO will make reference to the policies of its member groups and we will encourage the adoption of a common approach. Several groups that are affiliated to KIO have developed policies in relation to Access. These include:

- An Óige

- The Irish Ramblers

KIO is also supportive of the partnership approach adopted by the Irish Uplands Forum and the Wicklow Uplands Council and we will endeavor to contribute to these and similar groups in other areas so as to foster a spirit of co-operation and trust which is essential to problem solving.

If you would like to inform us of any problems in your area please email us at info@keepirelandopen.org

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