Various types of organized Long Walks, walking festivals and charity hill walks take place on the Irish hills every year.

The remit of the MCI is land above 300m and associated "wilderness" or semi-wild landscapes. Thus all of the major Long Walks organized by MCI clubs and the others mentioned above are of direct interest to us. There are also 27 Waymarked Walking Routes in Ireland and the Committee administering them is adamant that no large-scale organized walks take place over those routes.

Traditionally MCI member clubs organize Eleven Mountain Long Distance Walks

The Mourne Wall Walk (Down) and The Reeks Walk (Kerry) were abandoned due to large numbers, difficulty in providing back-up, erosion etc. The Mourne Seven Sevens is a relatively new arrival on the scene. The Lug Walk and the Ring of Imaal are biennial events and the Maumturks is occasionally not held. On the year the Turks is not "officially on" hundreds have turned up 'to do the walk' anyway!

There arc also two Mountain Marathons - The Comeragh Challenge and The Mourne Marathon.

The traditional Long Walks have many of the following features 'in common:

* Minimum age limit (usually 18)

* Third party insurance for organizers and helpers

* Participants agree to obey the organizers decisions in the event of the walk being called off or their lack of progress etc.

* Each participant enters on his / her own (in theory!)

* Personal navigation skills (of a very high level for some walks)

* Less experienced walkers have the opportunity to tackle some of the more difficult walking routes in the country

* Check on personal equipment of participants

* Non profit making / not a charity event

* Safety / Rescue considerations put in place by the organizers

* Checkpoints on route

* Personal challenge but non-competitive

* Prior negotiations by organizers with the landowners particularly at the start and end of the walk where farmland may be crossed

* Policy (and good practice) on litter

* No dogs

The MCI encourage the above features especially those that promote some of the traditional values of mountaineering - personal responsibility, skills, knowledge and self-reliance. A tough day on the Turks in wet and windy conditions will test all of those!

The MCI also welcomes initiatives to protect the environment and involve locals in the Organization (and indeed participation) in the Long Walks. Organizers have, by and large, engaged in good practice over the years. However, numbers on some of the walks are increasing rapidly. Erosion is a consequence of some of the Long Walks.

A seldom mentioned fact of these walks is where people relieve themselves (don't have time, going too fast to stop!). A few hundred people on the hills must make some impression. If we lived in the USA, Park Rangers would require us to bag the solid matter and bring it out with us.

The concept of being on your own or with a small group is becoming less and less a possibility as hundreds take to the hills. The gripe is being made that there are too many on the Long Walks to enjoy the mountains. (Well, why walk that day then?)

MCI policy is for a maximum of two hundred people on these walks. Size is not such an issue for the smaller walks but for the organizers of the Lug, the Maumturks and the Glover it is a major challenge.

Greater mobility, more knowledge about the walks, better mapping, increased disposable income combined with the demand for a recognized challenge and the knowledge that the ‘craic’ can be mighty after the walks are amongst the factors that have caused an increase in numbers. For many club walkers, the Long Walks are an opportunity to renew friendships and visit an area that may not be on their club calendar of events. The weather can also be a factor - a dry spell before the Glover for example, particularly after a wet summer will cause numbers to increase.

You can't turn people away at the ‘check in' and say "well you don't have the freedom to walk the mountains today". If they are refused entry and still do the walk anyway (and why not?) the organizers may feel a certain moral responsibility towards them.

A number of clubs has considered only accepting participants who preenter. The Ramblers had a pre-entry of 200 on this years Lug Walk (30 of these didn't show) with a further 60 showing up on the day.

They also had to liaise with the Wicklow National Park and had a visit of a Ranger on the day of the walk itself. The jurisdiction of the Park Rangers over these walks is an interesting area to consider. Are they entitled to ask the organizers to call the walk off, if for example there is very bad weather?

The MCI is particularly concerned with erosion – obviously we don't want hundreds of our members cutting up the mountain on a wet day. The maximum number of two hundred was intended to go some way to protect the ground but is it possible implement it? Perhaps so, if preregistration was the only way to enter. Clubs themselves are worried about inexperienced walkers taking part in some of the Long Walks. Some are questioning the use of publicity to promote these walks amongst non-Hillwalkers or those who arc normally used to being led.

The Log lists the dates of the Walks and the contact persons. There is occasionally an article published on particular Walks. Club Secretaries usually get a mailing from the organizing club. Some walks are advertised in outdoor shops and pubs, while a few are featured in Walking World Ireland.

Another approach is that of the Mourne Seven Sevens. There is no designated route. Participants have to check-in at various points; they can choose their own route. This certainly cuts down on erosion since everyone is not (in theory) following the same path. Conceivably the Seven Sevens, could well have over two hundred participants, but it must be acknowledged that the Mournes lend themselves to that type of event given the geography of the mountains.

Yet another possibility is to use the Walking Festival type approach. Some member clubs are involved in these, with a major spin-off for the local area with local businesses being patronized for the weekend. The local club usually has a series of led/guided walks from routes on green roads to 900m tops. Could elements of the more traditional Long Walks be included with people navigating their own way around the mountains? It has been argued that some or all of the checkpoints could be taken out of the Long Walks, but for the organizer checkpoints are a safety net. For the participant they are an important navigational and psychological feature of the event. Certainly removing many of the checkpoints would put greater onus on individual navigational and personal mountaineering skills. Fewer checkpoints may discourage less prepared walkers and definitely would increase the challenge. Yet, would this change expose the organizers to the ire of the Gardai if people went missing and the Rescue Services had to be put in place?

The Turks have been done in both directions - is less erosion caused one way than the other? Could a walk include different mountains in different years - would there be an outcry if the North West MC ran the Glover from the top of Slieve Snaght, across the Derryveagh Mountains to Glenveagh National Park! (Yes - no pub!)

Some clubs organize another walk for members in Connemara on the Maumturks weekend. In the Wayfarers Association this year you had the choice of doing the Turks proper or the Mweelrea horseshoe. Clubs therefore don't have to commit all their members on a weekend away to doing a given long walk.

The organizers of the Glover have dispensed with the T-shirts this year and are giving the money to an environmental project on Errigal instead. Will the lack of T-shirts cut down on participants?

The MCI can give guidance. In the past there were some that would encourage the MCI to ask member clubs to discontinue the Long Walks. As a national rather than a governing body we encourage good practice rather than prescription.

The inspiration for these thoughts came from the 1997 May Council Meeting (after the Blackstairs Walk) when Tom Finn of Tralee asked the Council to consider the 'Peaks for the Pool' fund raising event. The issues there were

Damage to the fabric of the mountain.

There was no guarantee that the participants were mountain -lovers.

Threat to our freedom of the open space.

MCI clubs have built up positive relationships with landowners. Masses of fund-raisers may have no such concern.

Inevitability of escalation.

The high mountains are no place for sponsored walks.

The MCI Executive, which also considered the event, was particularly unhappy with clubs being expected to supply leaders to high mountain areas almost as an afterthought by the organizers. A ratio of 1:20 on the Reeks or Brandon showed a dangerous disregard of safety on the part of the organizers.

Charity walks can come under a number of headings. We have all been involved in events where a small number of club members undertake a fundraiser for a good cause. No problems here. But any Club Secretary will tell you of the amount of mail received encouraging members to fund raise for a good cause or raise a sum of money and participate in an organized event.

Many MCI members from both a climbing and walking background have supported the Glen of Imaal Mountain Rescue Team's annual night-hike up Lug. It is a well-organized event in terms of getting people on and off the mountain but as correspondence in previous Logs has shown not everyone is happy with the event - concerns were expressed about litter and erosion. Again the role of the MCI is not to prescribe but to advise on good practice.

If the cause is good enough, it is not necessary to take people onto the high tops in order to raise money. Greater participation (and by implication more money raised) may be achieved by using forest tracks and lower lying walks. Professional fundraisers, however, often promote the event, with the charity coming second to the challenge (in terms of publicity). There is a huge duty of care involved in taking inexperienced people onto the hills and organizers of charity events must make sure they have the resources to carry out the event safely before they publicize it. The sentiment from the floor at the May Council meeting was that clubs should not be expected to act as guides to these events.

From the above observations the MCI may make some guidelines about the traditional Long Walks

The ethic of personal responsibility must be encouraged.

The MCI policy is two hundred participants - popular (all?) walks might consider preregistration of participants, with no entries accepted on the day of the walk itself

Give some thought to the route and organization of the walk - some walks might sustain over two hundred participants if everyone was basically not following the same route - Is there a case to cut down on the

number of checkpoints?

All event organizers and participants must actively address litter, dogs, access and farmland.

In relation to the Walking Festivals the MCI would encourage events within the Festival where participants can direct themselves around the mountain not relying on leaders / guides. This will serve to promote personal responsibility and encourage the skills on navigation etc.