People have been asked not to climb a mountain in County Donegal later in the week due to a helicopter carrying heavy materials overhead for repair work. The work to repair the Errigal pathway is scheduled to take place on Wednesday but may also continue into Thursday. Large sections of the €630,000 (£536,500) pathway, which was opened in October 2022, were Errigal is the highest of seven peaks in Donegal's Derryveagh mountains, known as the Seven Sisters.
It is estimated that more than 40,000 people climb the mountain every year. Cairde na hEaragaile (Friends of Errigal), which comprises a number of bodies with an interest in protecting the mountainous area, has appealed to hikers to avoid the area as the vital repair work, using the helicopter, is carried out on the path. Project officer Josephine Kelly said people should not walk below the helicopter while it was lifting materials, such as heavy stones, up and down the mountain.
A stop/go system will be in operation for drivers on the road next to the car park at the bottom of the pathway, so cars will have limited access to the mountain. Ms Kelly said the pathway had been badly damaged when five inches of rain fell in three hours. "There is a stream that runs along the side of the path, and it simply couldn't handle the sheer volume of water that came down and large sections of the embankment, taking some large boulders with it, washed away, or destroyed parts of the path," she said.
"Although we can't physically close.