BALLYHOURA SEES SPIKE IN VISITORS AFTER LOCKDOWN

The Ballyhoura Forest Park has seen a massive bump in visitors during the three months of summer.

Coillte recorded 30,000 visitors to Curragh Chase and Ballyhoura Forest during June, July and August. This was a large increase on numbers from April and May - it is believed the easing of restrictions in early June were most likely the cause of the massive spike.

Imelda Hurley, chief executive of Coillte, said it is great to see people out enjoying the open air facilities.

“Since restrictions were eased and people could move more than five kilometres from their homes, we, unsurprisingly, saw an immediate large increase in visitor numbers,” she said.

“In fact, there was a significant increase in visitor numbers in two of Coillte’s Limerick forest parks since lockdown restrictions were eased in

June, Curragh Chase and Ballyhoura. This continued, steady increase is heartening for all of those who cherish our amenities.

Coillte’s newly released figures also reveal that there was a large increase in visitor numbers to some forest parks in Cork. Two of Coillte’s forest parks in Cork track visitor numbers, namely Gougane Barra forest park and Farran forest park and these recorded 20,872 visitors between June and August.

“Access to nature is very important for the body, mind and spirit and that is why we work hard to maintain our tracks, parks and outdoor recreational facilities across Limerick.

“As we approach the end of August, and people take time to enjoy our forests, we ask that visitors continue to adhere to the social distancing rule of two metres when meeting others outside of their household, as well as the other guidelines on outdoor gatherings announced by the Government,” she added.