Mayo's famous mountain and pilgrimage site, Croagh Patrick is set to undergo a programme of sustainability works thanks to a new investment.

Funding of €480,000 will support sustainable access works and habitat restoration at the site.

Announcing the investment, Minister for Rural and Community Development, Michael Ring TD said: "Croagh Patrick is an internationally famous mountain and place of pilgrimage. The Reek, as we know it, is especially dear to people in Mayo.

"However, with its increasing popularity, the mountain and its habitats are at risk of being damaged. This funding will create a stone path to enable walkers and pilgrims to use the mountain in a sustainable way.

"The proposed path will be around two metres wide with some variation in width to allow congregation of people without impacting on the surrounding vegetation. The objective is to manage the path in a way that is sympathetic to the setting whilst respecting the cultural value of the mountain.

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"This funding will help provide sustainable access to Croagh Patrick, while providing a high-quality experience for all visitors whatever their inspiration or purpose.

"I commend the work done by The Croagh Patrick Stakeholders Group and Mayo County Council in preparing this solution. I wish them well in implementing this work which will help to maintain and manage the mountain sustainably into the future."

Locally sourced materials will be used throughout the repair and restoration of the path and damaged habitats and it may be necessary to move materials along the length of the route to ensure that there are no shortages of appropriate stone. Any imported stone will match that of the Croagh Patrick quartzite.

All work will be finished by hand, with the use of excavators kept to a minimum as a means of reducing the potential for health and safety conflicts with continued public use of Croagh Patrick.

Welcoming the funding allocation, Martin Keating Head of Environment, Climate Change and Agriculture at Mayo County Council commented: "We are delighted that the funding has been secured and announced for the sustainable access works and habitat restoration on Croagh Patrick. Over the past five years, Mayo County Council, the Department of Rural and Community Development and Croagh Patrick Stakeholders Group have worked together, with consultants and contractors from in Scotland, England and Ireland, to devise a Pilgrim Path repair and restoration plan, which will ensure the mountain is maintained and managed sustainably into the future. The Croagh Patrick Stakeholders Group will now commence putting arrangements in place to implement the plans."

(CM/MH)