KAREN WOODS -recreation manager, Dublin Mountains Partnership
MY COMMUTE is from Smithfield in Dublin to the Coillte offices in Newtownmountkennedy, Co Wicklow. I start at 8am.
The Dublin Mountains Partnership is made up of six partner organisations including Coillte, which is the landowner, three county councils, and the Dublin Mountains Initiative, which represents users.
Staff-wise, it’s just me. I’m the only one here. I’m on secondment from Coillte and I’ve been doing it for the past three years.
Coillte has always had an open access policy to its lands and we have taken it from there and added waymarked routes and provided more information for the public.
I’m out of the office for two days every week, working in the mountains. If it’s an office day, I’ll be checking my e-mails and answering queries.
The kind of queries that land on my desk could be anything from questions about opening times to requests for maps or information about facilities and even suggestions for new walks.
There is also a team of about 30 voluntary rangers who each work two days a month and it’s my job to manage them too.
They’re a great bunch and they do terrific work, especially promoting the “leave no trace” message and running free guided walks.
We have nine key sites around the city, the best known of which are Ticknock, the Hellfire Club and Cruagh Woods.
My job is to manage all the recreational issues, providing access and dealing with antisocial behaviour.
For example, we might have cases of illegal dumping in the woods, or kids having drinking parties, or problems with scrambler bikes. The rangers will go and chat to people and tell them why they can’t do it.
The main issue they face, however, is people running into difficulties who have gone out wearing unsuitable footwear or clothing. I love the outdoors myself. Triathlons, cycling and hill walking are what I’m into, but I’m not as fit as I used to be. I take a packed lunch to work because it’s healthier, and also cheaper, and if it’s nice I’ll eat outside.
The afternoons vary depending on the project I’m working on. At the moment, we are promoting the Dublin Mountain Way, a 43km stretch from Shankill to Tallaght with beautiful views out over the city.
Today I’m spending the afternoon updating the website and writing press releases. In mid-May, we launched a new 8km mountain bike trail loop, which is getting rave reviews. It’s a fairly technical course, compared with the Ballyhoura trail in Limerick, so it’s not for families but for serious mountain bikers.
If I’m out in the mountains for the day, I’ll be checking signage, talking to our rangers about work on drainage or replacing plaques. And because I start early it means I can get home early to pick up my son, who is 18 months old, from the crèche.
I reckon I have the best of both worlds because I’m in the mountains by day and in the city by night.
In conversation with SANDRA O’CONNELL