Irish Sports Council Promoting Outdoor Activity and Adventure

The Adventure Weekend is a new consumer show aimed at promoting activity and adventure in the Irish outdoors and will feature many activities, exhibitors and providers involved with outdoor recreation in Ireland. Adventure Weekend is an interactive show exhibiting the best of Ireland's outdoor adventure scene, ranging from zip lining to testing out the latest gear.

Recreational walking and cycling are two of the biggest sporting and leisure time physical activities undertaken by Irish residents and encouraging increased participation in these activities is an important objective of the Irish Sports Council.

The Irish Sports Councils - National Trails Office will be promoting the health benefits of outdoor recreation activity and Ireland emerging recreational trails network to all show visitors and programme have also developed two new publications specifically for the event.

Discover Trail Walking ( A Guide to Trail Walking in Ireland) and Discover Cycling ( An Introduction to Leisure Cycling) draws on the expertise of staff within the National Trails Office and also includes contributions from experienced outdoor enthusiasts, wildlife experts and others. The guidebooks, which will be freely available over the weekend are a fantastic resource for people to plan their walking and cycling trips and are intended to encourage more people to become active on developed walking and cycling trails throughout the country.

The National Trails Office will also be promoting its new website www.irishtrails.ie which carries detailed information on all walking, cycling and other trails in Ireland. The site serves as a one-stop-shop for information on all trails in Ireland and included interactive maps, a trail search facility and much more.

The Irish Sports Council launched its Irish Trails Strategy in 2007 which brings together a number of State agencies interested in the development of trails in Ireland including Failte Ireland, Coillte and Waterways Ireland. The strategy aims to develop world class recreational trail facilities in Ireland and also seeks to increased awareness and usage of trails among Irish residents and visitors from abroad. In 2009 over 800,000 overseas visitors engaged in walking activities during their holidays in Ireland.

In addition to the National Trails Office, several other National Governing Bodies of Sport will be attending the Adventure Weekend including Mountaineering Ireland, Cycling Ireland, Orienteering Ireland and Canoe Ireland. All will be encouraging increased participation in their respective sports.