Aims of KIO

Keep Ireland Open

Working for the right to access the countryside

Aims of KIO

Aims of KIO

The Aims of Keep Ireland Open are:
  • To achieve a network of well marked and maintained public rights-of way to allow short walks to reach open ground and provide access to our rivers, lakes and seashores. • To gain freedom to roam over rough grazing land – that is about 7% of our total land area.
  • To minimize barbed-wire fencing in mountain areas of rough grazing, as it is visually intrusive and severely hinders walkers. Unfortunately there is no legal obligation to provide stiles.
  • To protect our archaeological and natural heritage.
  • To promote the recreational use of walking and cycling routes.
Croagh Patrick

The Current Position

In Ireland you have virtually no legal right to step onto private land, no matter how remote. In Ireland there are scarcely rights of way, apart from the obvious, for example public roads and urban parks.

This is why, in stark contrast to other European countries, casual walkers out for a stroll are confined to tarmac or have to struggle on intermittent paths through countryside where no infrastructure (stiles etc) has been provided and worse, where they can be turned back by an angry landowner for no reason.

Keep Ireland Open is not just for dedicated hill walkers. It is for all who want to access our countryside – just like has been achieved elsewhere decades ago.