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Kieran Mulvey and John Treacy of the Irish Sports Council and David Gunning, Coillte, this week agreed an extension to the very successful trails and forest recreation programme that has been in operation for the last three years and supports active participation in outdoor activities and rural tourism.
The initiative, which supports a national technical trails advisor and three regional trail managers within Coillte has delivered many new trail and forest recreation projects throughout the country over the past three years and has also lead to very successful initiatives like National Trails Day, which will run again for the fourth year on the 2nd October 2011. €260,000 has been put in place by the Irish Sports Council to fund the programme with Coillte for 2011/12.
Speaking at the signing of the agreement, David Gunning, Chief executive of Coillte, said: "Coillte contributes significantly to the economic and commercial life of the country through commercial activities, and our recreation offering is extremely important in making Ireland a better place to live and also in supporting rural communities through tourism based on the forest and trail infrastructure."
"The Programme with the Irish Sports Council is important in supporting our ability to deliver these valuable public goods, " he added. Irish Sports Council chairman, Kieran Mulvey also highlighted the programme as being "an excellent example of two state organisations working together to deliver benefits to citizens and tourists alike"
Chief Executive of the Irish Sports Council, John Treacy, said that "this initiative between the Irish Sports Council and the Coillte supports active participation in a whole range of outdoor activities, right across the country, and this was very positive"
He added: "activities such as walking, hiking, running and biking are all supported by this programme which not only improve peoples physical health but also their mental well being" John also expressed his gratitude to Coillte for their positive and progressive work in developing and promotion outdoor recreation in forest areas.
Staff within Coillte's recreation team and the Irish Sports Council's National Trails Office will continue to work in partnership on a number of new and exciting trail and forest recreation projects over the next year, as part of the initiative.
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