One Gate Opens, The Same Gate Closes

Gates of Mordor TUES11JUNE25

here’s no question that, when it comes to The Cliff Walk and its continued closure since February 2021, Wicklow County Council are stuck between falling rocks and a hard place.

Cliff Walk gates TUES17JUNE25

Naturally, first and foremost on their minds is ensuring that they never get sued by anyone who happens to hurt themselves along one of their many nature treks.

Then again, isn’t that what God created Enter At Your Own Risk warning signs for…?

There are plenty of walks around Wicklow – and the globe – where people will be well aware of the dangers, and act accordingly. Just as many of our woods will have trees over 100 years old which might decide on a surprise retirement party at any point, walking along any cliff face comes with the knowledge that you’ve got a drop on one side and a very high wall of earth and rock on the other.

And, hey, if you cross a busy road, look out for traffic.

That The Cliff Walk between Bray and Greystones should be closed since February 2021 because some boulder clay collapsed on the Greystones end (reducing the path in size, but still manageable) and a rockfall at the Bray end could be considered a little excessive by those who understand nature. And walking.

A century ago, you could buy a seaside postcard that poked fun at The Cliff Walk’s constant erosion.

There has been no rockfall since, and no boulder clay collapses. Instead, since September last year, tired of all the hollow promises and entangled red tape from Wicklow County Council, a hardy group of local volunteers, Friends Of The Cliff Walk, spent their Saturdays clearing the Sleeping Beauty overgrowth and re-establishing not only The Cliff Walk but an ancient, alternative route halfway across that brings you up by The Bray Head cross.

Handy, given that the only true obstacle on the walk is the big iron gate that Wicklow County Council had installed at the Bray entrance.

Ironically, given that the walk was once again accessible and safe – we did it ourselves last Wednesday, and it was bliss – the arrival on Monday of specialist consultants at the behest of the Cliff Walk Task Force put together by Tánaiste Simon Harris, Wicklow County Council thought it best to remove any signs of the good life along the trek. By removing the barrier the Friends crew had placed around the site of the boulder clay collapse, along with any other helpful signage, and by reinforcing the Gate Of Mordor that people had been limboing under or climbing over. There are also new warning signs basically telling people to feck off somewhere else for their healthy hike.

Local impact study launch TUES3JUNE25

Of course, the Council may have also wanted to physically express their anger at this month’s impact study by Jim Power that estimated €50,000 a day was being lost in the local economy, his report being quickly denounced with a concerned WCC press release.

A spokesperson for Friends Of The Cliff Walk told us, “It is remarkable that, days after damning evidence as to the severe economic impact their actions – or inactions – has had on businesses in our community, and as consultants start to access the walk, the Council erect a new barrier and reinforce another.

“Anyone would think they were trying to justify their alarmism and a four-and-a-half-year failure to find solutions in preference to their head-in-the-sand, do nothing approach to our beloved Cliff Walk.”

Of course, everyone involved here, from de peoples to de Maurice Hickeys, would love to see The Cliff Walk fully reopened. So, what’s the feckin’ four-year hold-up…?

The core delay may still be as our dearly departed town engineer Ruairi O’Hanlon explained to us back in August 2021, negotiations with private landowners about alternative routes around the affected areas, and the changing of farming practices that would help reduce the water seeping down. Back then, the negotiations were whittled down from four landowners down to two, with one old farmer happy to help, no questions asked, but the other, younger farmer, well, not so much. And that could very well still seem to be the case.

So, it’ll be interesting to see what if these specialist consultants can find a way through here. Harris might just have some big guns at his disposal.

If there isn’t any progress, of course, there’s every chance that the rest of us will simply find out own way through once again.