Coillte in contact with Laois Gardaí to police scramblers on Slieve Bloom trails

Coillte, Ireland's state forestry agency, have confirmed that they are liaising with Laois Gardaí to police the illegal use of scramblers, quads and motorcycles on Slieve Bloom mountain bicycle trails.

Coillte has confirmed to the Leinster Express / Laois Live that its local management staff have been in contact with An Garda Síochana as part of enforcement efforts aimed at protecting the Slieve Bloom mountain bike trails.

"It’s important to note that Coillte is continuing to establish the extent of the damage caused by Storm Éowyn to its Slieve Bloom mountain bike trails," a representative explained.

"Coillte confirms that the use of off-road scrambler motorcycles, quad bikes and other all terrain vehicles are not permitted on Coillte lands. Coillte has been in contact with the Gardaí in relation to this matter and will continue to work closely with them to deter the use of unauthorised vehicles on Coillte’s Slieve Bloom mountain bike trail network," the forestry body finished.

Coillte also responded to representations on the matter from the Independent TD Carol Nolan, who recently highlighted the alleged damage that is being caused to the trails from the illegal use of off-road scrambler motorcycles, quad bikes and other all-terrain vehicles.

“I am delighted to see that Coillte is committed to adopting a very firm policy on this matter and that it is continuing to liaise with the Gardai to deter the use of these unauthorised vehicles on the Slieve Bloom mountain bike trail network,” said Deputy Nolan.

“For its part, Coillte has made it explicitly clear that while it has developed a series of bye-laws which outline and specify activities which are not permitted on Coillte lands unless specifically authorised under licence, this does not apply to scramblers, quad bikes and the other all-terrain vehicles that are the source of the problem.”

“I appreciate that the agency does rely on An Garda Síochana for enforcement of these bye-laws and that is why I will be working to ensure that our Gardaí have sufficient resources available to them to enable the kind of routine enforcement that we need to see happen to protect this valuable local resource from further levels of deterioration,” concluded Deputy Nolan.

Coillte previously stated to the Leinster Express / Laois Live that the use of motorcycles in this area is illegal.