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GAZETTE
MARCH 1993
Irish Cycling Guide
by Brendan Walsh. Gill and
Macmillan, 1992, 135pp £5.99
paperback.
To those unfamiliar with reading
maps, Brendan Walsh, solicitor,
mountain climber, cyclist and
raconteur, brings years of practical
experience to bear on the topic. His
book makes reading a map such as a
Michelin 1:400,000, (approximately 1
inch to 6.3 miles), covering the entire
country and an Ordnance Survey
Map, scale 1:50,000 and 1:25,000,
like reading an adventure novel,
because it has certain alluring
information with an underlying
suggestiveness.
The author Brendan Walsh, experiences
the highs . . .
Brendan's knowledge of the
countryside, his attention to detail,
e.g. page 91 "after Belturbet take the
T52 (signposted Clones) on a road
of potholes 4.1 miles east etc."
illuminates some trips which might
otherwise be drudgery.
He grades the different trips, one to
four star, much like the Michelin
Restaurants that he frequents, on his
not infrequent trips to France. There
is a very accurate description of the
Clifden/Westport via Doolough trip,
graded four star as follows:-
"The more adventurous should go
back along the Northshore of Killary
Harbour past the beautiful Aasleagh
Falls, on the R335/L100, for three
miles, to where the road goes north
between the Mweelrea Mountains
and Ben Gorm/Sheeffry Hills. After
1.5 miles Delphi is passed and then
Doolough, after which the road rises
over a low pass to reveal, on a fine
day, stunning views of the Atlantic
with Inishturk, Clare Island and
Achill to the north west."
This publication, while directed
primarily at cyclists coming from
abroad is very useful reading for
anyone thinking of taking a short
cycle trip of say thirty to forty miles.
It is almost essential reading for
those embarking on a leg of the
Grand Tour, i.e. 35 day coastal trip
around Ireland, doing approximately
forty miles per day.
and the lows of cycling!
The book provides very useful
material on accommodation, youth
hostels, camping, B & Bs, etc. in
addition to suggestions about getting
there by train, bus, package tours,
and rules and road markings.
Tourism is such an important part of
our economy and this publication is
a small but important contribution
towards our tourism. His choice of
title "Irish Cycling Guide", rather
than "Cycling Guide to Ireland", I
have no doubt, was motivated by the
fact that Brendan felt some potential
readers would be left under the
impression that it might be a
humorous book, cycling Irish style.
It is not.
I get great pleasure, both at home
and abroad, enquiring from travel
agents, bookstalls and tourist
centres, as to the availability of this
publication and recommending it. I
don't get any commission but I hope
to get a free copy of his next
publication entitled "Cycling Irish
Style Around Scotland".
At £5.99 it is good value. You can
keep it for years and unless we have
another ice age, it will be as relevant
in fifty years as today; it does not
have any inbuilt obsolescence.
Frank O'Donnell.
•
FLAC Lobbies on Legal Aid
In a pre-budget submission to the
Government, the Free Legal Advice
Centres (FLAC) highlighted the
inadequacies and inconsistencies of
the Social Welfare Service. FLAC said
that one third of the population is
dependant on welfare payments for
their income, yet their needs are not
considered when legislation is being
drafted. Much of the law in this area
is complex, yet claimants are
specifically excluded from availing of
Legal Aid when appealing a decision
of the Department of Social Welfare.
FLAC said the Legal Aid Scheme
must be expanded to cover Social
Welfare and the Employment Appeals
Tribunal.
In its submission FLAC noted with
interest the commitment in the
Programme for Government in
respect of equal access to the law
and that this is now to be the
respoonsibility of the new Minister
for Equality
Mervyn Taylor.
" The
recognition of the need to guarantee
equal access to the law irrespective
of income is long overdue and we
hope that this will lead to real
progress in the development of a
comprehensive scheme of Civil Legal
Aid and advice."
While welcoming the proposal to,
place, at last, the Scheme of Civil
Legal Aid on a statutory footing,
FLAC pointed out that it is now five
years since the then Minister for
Justice,
Gerard Collins,
first made
this promise. "Since then there has
been history of subsequent Ministers
making the same promise without
action. We hope that this time the
promise will not be broken."
•