This week, Countrywide reporter Della Kilroy visited Hickeys farm to meet father and son Martin and Gerard Hickey and find out how this summer’s weather has affected their crops, and what it means for the future of Irish vegetable growing.

This week, Countrywide reporter Della Kilroy visited Hickeys farm to meet father and son Martin and Gerard Hickey and find out how this summer’s weather has affected their crops, and what it means for the future of Irish vegetable growing.

The CountryWide team feature the events, people and happenings that bring colour and life to communities, towns and villages across Ireland. Listen live Saturdays at 8am on RTÉ Radio 1.

CountryWide

"If this summer happens again we'll gear up and maybe spend another half a million euro on another irrigation machinery."

A lot of this vision of a more "open access" Ireland might seem unachievable. But there is an example of farmers opening up access to the public and everybody getting along. The Sheepshead Way was created 30 years ago this year – securing agreement from 265 different landowners to open up all the old mass paths, holy well paths, to school through the fields paths and connect them all together into a six day hike.

A lot of this vision of a more "open access" Ireland might seem unachievable. But there is an example of farmers opening up access to the public and everybody getting along. The Sheepshead Way was created 30 years ago this year – securing agreement from 265 different landowners to open up all the old mass paths, holy well paths, to school through the fields paths and connect them all together into a six day hike.

Sheepshead Walk

This morning we took a a closer look at the kind of access to the countryside that the state is actually investing in; Greenways. 350 km of Greenway has been built in the last 5 years, and there are plans to build out a network of paved cycling paths that will be ten times that long. But, along the South Kerry Greenway, compulsory Purchase of land from farmers who say they were open to granting access to cross their farms without being forced to sell has generated conflict. Cleona O'Shea, chairperson of the National Greenway Action Association discusses. 

This morning we took a a closer look at the kind of access to the countryside that the state is actually investing in; Greenways. 350 km of Greenway has been built in the last 5 years, and there are plans to build out a network of paved cycling paths that will be ten times that long. But, along the South Kerry Greenway, compulsory Purchase of land from farmers who say they were open to granting access to cross their farms without being forced to sell has generated conflict. Cleona O'Shea, chairperson of the National Greenway Action Association discusses.&nbsp;

South Kerry Greenway

Tim Hannigan is a Cornish born Travel Writer so as somebody who grew up with a right to roam the countryside, the thing about living in Ireland that he can’t get his head around is the comparatively limited access to the countryside that we settle for here. So he set himself the challenge of walking through Ireland’s heartlands - from one side of the island to the other - without trespassing to see how much of the journey could be completed off road.

Tim Hannigan is a Cornish born Travel Writer so as somebody who grew up with a right to roam the countryside, the thing about living in Ireland that he can’t get his head around is the comparatively limited access to the countryside that we settle for here. So he set himself the challenge of walking through Ireland’s heartlands - from one side of the island to the other - without trespassing to see how much of the journey could be completed off road.

"If this summer happens again we'll gear up and maybe spend another half a million euro on another irrigation machinery."

CountryWide

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