Visitor Safety Group

The Visitor Safety Group is a UK and Ireland-wide network bringing together more than 50 landowners and other organisations with a role in visitor risk management. Mountaineering Ireland became a VSG member in 2017 following the Wall v NPWS case (the VSG approach was outlined in Mountaineering Ireland’s evidence in that case).

The Visitor Safety Group principles, which have been endorsed by a number of State agencies in Ireland, provide practical guidance on how to create safe access to the countryside in ways that do not spoil the landscape and heritage, or lessen the visitor’s sense of exploration and adventure. The kernel of the VSG approach is that the balance between management intervention and a visitor’s responsibility for their own safety should change depending on the location, with a higher degree of self-reliance expected of people in more remote and rugged locations.

The VSG approach is increasingly being recognised in Ireland as best practice in visitor management in the outdoors, and will be embedded in the new National Outdoor Recreation Strategy. Mountaineering Ireland is represented on the board of the Visitor safety Group by Vincent Mc Alinden.

To learn more visit the Visitor Safety Group site.