1. Deborah Kanakis 2nd Year Ph.D. Candidate
National University of Ireland, Galway
Supervisor: Dr Mary Cawley
GRC: Dr John McDonagh
Dr Stephen Hynes

2. 1. Background and Aim of Ph.D. Project
2. Methodology
3. Case Studies
4. Conceptual framework
5. Conclusion

3.  2nd Year Ph.D. Project
 Aim
 To investigate access to the countryside of Ireland
 Limited public rights of way
 No „Right to Roam‟
 No statutory/legislative framework for recreational
access
 Issue of contention and conflict – particularly in recent
years
 Solution proposed by Comhairle na Tuaithe
(Countryside Council) – Partnership approach

4.  Qualitative Research
 Primary Data: Interviews
 Purposive (non-random)Sampling
 Thematic Analysis
 Secondary Data
 Discourse Analysis

5.  Located in Joyce Country, Connemara (County
Galway)
 Easily accessible from the villages of Clonbur and
Cornamona
 Relatively low hill (424 m) with stunning scenery
 Land under scheme is largely unfenced and open
 Suits walkers/hikers of moderate fitness
 Access negotiated by Local Integrated
Development Network (local community tourism
group) in partnership with landowners
 Criticism – poor communication

6. Mount Gable
Source: Ordnance Survey Ireland

7. Image: Author‟s
Own

8.  Located in County Mayo
 42 KM Walking/Cycling linear trail follows
disused railway track
 Linking Westport Town to Achill Island
 First dual purpose Waymarked Way (long
distance trail in Ireland)
 Awarded European Destination of Excellence
(EDEN) in 2011
 Partnership – landowners and Mayo County
Council

9. Source: Ordnance Survey Ireland

11.  Private Property
 Common Pool Resource (CPR)
 Social Capital
 Partnerships

12.  All land in Ireland is either owned by
individuals or state bodies – the public does
not have a de facto legal right of entry (Pearce
and Mee, 2000)
 Protection against trespass is provided under
Irish law
 Land has a strong social and cultural
significance associated
 High level of owner occupancy – there are over
141,000 farms in Ireland (avg. farm size 32.8 ha)

13.  The term CPR can, as Schlager and Ostrom (1992,
249) state, be applied “to any common pool
resource used by multiple individuals regardless
of the type of property rights involved”
 A CPR can also be described as a “good” “whereby
exclusion of others is infeasible or costly, but
where the goods or the services are subtractible, so
that one person‟s use or consumption is affecting
other persons‟ use” (Sandberg, 2007, 613)
 Community control or reciprocal actions among
individuals have the potential to resolve potential
issues relating to over use and free riding in CPRs
(Healy, 1994)

14.  Reciprocal relationships in the management of
CPRs are reliant on the existence of SC
 SC is, like other forms of capital, productive
 SC can be seen as the institutional solution that
communities develop to resolve potential
problems
 Theories of CPR and SC are intrinsically linked

15.  A partnership is defined as herein as “An
arrangement which deliberately draws
together the resources of specified partners in
order to achieve a defined objective”
(Goodwin, 2009, 593), and:
 “The concept of partnership should consider
not only the formation, membership, power
relations between partners…but also the social,
political, cultural and economic contexts in
which partnerships are being formed at the
local level” (Jones and Little, 2000, 171)

16.  Ireland provides a unique context for studying
access
 Limited rights of way and no apparent
legislative change on the horizon has brought
about the need to re-think how access can be
attained
 CnaT (The countryside Council), the Irish
Sports Council (ISC), The National Trails Office
combined advise that access should be
negotiated at local level using partnerships