Offroad Commission Access Officer Resignation

To the Mountain Bike Community, and whoever else it may concern:

As many of you know, as Access Officer for the Off-road Commission, and prior to that as its Chairman, I have been heavily involved for many years in dealing with Coillte in matters relating to mountain biking. Over the past year, we have been actively involved with them on a Mountain Bike strategy document.  It was hoped that this Strategy would offer workable solutions to many of the issues resulting from our use of Coillte lands for our sport.

This document is in the process of being launched by Coillte, while it offers some fantastic opportunities for both national level facilities and club based projects, it does not, in my opinion adequately address the issues of general access to Coillte lands for mountain biking. Whilst it sets the ground work for continued long term growth of our sport it does very little to deal with the more immediate issues raised by the imposition of the Coillte Bye Laws introduced in 2009.

In addition to this, relations between the Off-road Commission and Coillte have deteriorated significantly over the past few months to the extent that we have been effectively shut out of the finalisation of the strategy and our remaining concerns ignored.

The Off-road Commission will issue further communications detailing the positives and the negatives contained in the document.

When it becomes available (it will likely be posted to the Coillte Outdoors site next week) I would urge people to read the document for themselves and come to their own conclusions, weighing both the positives (which there are many) and the negatives.  There is much to be gained through the Strategy for clubs that wish to engage with Coillte locally and develop their own trails. To do so however mountain bikers will have to conclude themselves on the implications for their day to day riding.

I find myself in a situation where I can no longer reconcile my personal riding with Coillte’s access policy and the provision of the bye laws.  I feel it would be hypocritical of me to stay on in a role on the commission when there is little prospect of a resolution to the issues of general access.

With a certain amount of regret I therefore resign my position on the commission with immediate effect.

I would not like my resignation to be seen as opposition to the Strategy.  Quite the opposite in fact, I am excited by some of the opportunities it presents and the fact that the long term picture it paints is a kin to anything we have seen in Scotland or Wales.  The issue is that it does not deal with the bye laws and the whole area of general access which was in many respects the principal motivation for me to get involved in this process in the first instance.  I still believe that they way forward is through responsible mountain biking and working with Coillte locally to develop areas to ride.  I will certainly remain active at club level trying to do just that. At National level I feel that I have contributed all that I can and that relations with Coillte have deteriorated to an extent where I can be of little further use to the community going forward.

I would like to thank everyone who has been of assistance to me during my years on the commission, your contributions are much appreciated.

I feel we have achieved a lot, although there is no doubt more to do.

While I am removing myself from any official role I will always be at the end of a phone for any biker who needs advise or guidance on any issue that they feel I can help with.

See you on the trail.

Sean Herlihy