Harte of the Matter on Donegal's potential for adventure

When we look for things to do in Donegal we could look into an area that is frequented by those who participate in a sport which is certainly not for the fainthearted.

Mountain climbing is becoming a popular sport, especially in Donegal, where we have a plethora of hills and mountains to rival many parts of the world.

The activity is only in its relative infancy here, but the emergence of many walking and climbing clubs  in the last few years makes you gasp at the enormous potential that Donegal has when it comes to sporting phenomena.

Myles Gallagher is a leading light in its promotion throughout the county. Micheál Martin and his merry men would do well to try these mountains out as he could march to the top of the hill and instead of marching them down again, he could sit atop and feast on some of the sights in Donegal!

I digress.The days of going to the beach and it being an adventure have been replaced by some serious mountain climbs in an area that has more natural beauty than many places throughout Ireland and beyond

We don’t appreciate it as much as those coming from an inner city environment. For them it is a new world. For those of us brought up in Donegal we regard it as part of life. We don’t appreciate the natural beauty that encompasses our world and we take it for granted.

As kids growing up in Donegal we didn’t appreciate the beauty of the environment that surrounded us. But now with social media we have a better appreciation of our surroundings than ever before.

I was always fascinated by school friends who came from the beach areas of Donegal. Some of them couldn’t  swim which I thought was strange. But it soon became clear to me that swimming was an additional risk that families did not need and I suppose it was understandable when one thinks of those families in west Donegal and beyond.

Today I think things have changed and kids now take to the water no matter where they are from and long may it last, albeit with a healthy respect for its dangers .It has much to do with training clubs that have helped kids in this regard .

With our mixed climate and abundance of beaches we should be the leading county in terms of water sports. Adventures can be undertaken in Donegal all year round whether it’s in watersports, surfing or equestrian centres. We have it all in Donegal.

We have a total of 13 blue flag beaches and scenic drives - my personal favourite being Muckross in Kilcar to Carrick and Sliabh Liag, and of course the hidden gem that is the Silver Strand beach in Malinbeg near Glencolmcille .

We have an opportunity in this county to make it the playground of Ireland but we must maintain the balance of that rich social economy with tourism.

We need a government that will take this seriously and I’m worried that it’s not happening.

It remains to be seen if Donegal with Varadkar at the helm has wealth to the forefront of debate, to the detriment of small towns and villages. We have a mountain to climb.