Outdoor Recreation Ireland – Strategy, Trails and €8.7m ORIS

Outdoor recreation Ireland is guided by “Embracing Ireland’s Outdoors,” the national strategy for 2023-2027 that coordinates investment across walking, cycling, kayaking, climbing, surfing, angling, swimming and dozens of other activities. In August 2025, Minister Dara Calleary announced €8.7 million for 221 projects under the Outdoor Recreation Infrastructure Scheme (ORIS), the primary funding mechanism for trail and amenity development in rural areas. This guide covers the national strategy, ORIS funding, the role of Sport Ireland Outdoors, Coillte’s recreation network, the post-pandemic surge in participation and the growing economic value of outdoor recreation to rural communities across Ireland.

📋 The National Outdoor Recreation Strategy

“Embracing Ireland’s Outdoors” was launched in November 2022 as a cross-government strategy spanning the period 2023-2027. It sets the strategic direction for all outdoor recreation investment in Ireland, aiming to increase participation, improve infrastructure quality, protect natural environments and ensure that the benefits of outdoor recreation are accessible to everyone.

The strategy was developed with Comhairle na Tuaithe (the Countryside Council) and is administered by the Department of Rural and Community Development in partnership with Failte Ireland. It identifies outdoor recreation as a national priority that contributes to public health, mental wellbeing, rural economic development, social cohesion and environmental awareness. Key actions include expanding the Walks Scheme to 150 trails, developing new blueways, improving trail standards, promoting accessibility and inclusion, and strengthening the regulatory framework for outdoor activities.

The strategy provides the policy foundation for funding programmes like ORIS and guides investment decisions across multiple agencies. All projects seeking ORIS funding must demonstrate alignment with “Embracing Ireland’s Outdoors,” ensuring that public money is directed towards priorities identified through national consultation rather than ad hoc local requests.

💶 ORIS – The Outdoor Recreation Infrastructure Scheme

The Outdoor Recreation Infrastructure Scheme is the primary funding mechanism for outdoor recreation infrastructure in rural Ireland. Administered by the Department of Rural and Community Development in partnership with Failte Ireland, ORIS provides grants for the development of new facilities and the repair, maintenance and enhancement of existing infrastructure. Since its inception, the scheme has allocated funding of almost €87 million across over 1,246 projects nationwide.

In August 2025, Minister Dara Calleary announced the latest round of ORIS funding: €8.7 million for 221 projects across the country. The funding is distributed across four measures based on project scale. The Project Development Measure provides up to €50,000 for development costs on strategic large-scale projects. Measure 1 funds small-scale repair, development and promotional work up to €40,000. Measure 2 covers medium-scale upgrades and new trail development up to €200,000. Measure 3 supports large-scale strategic projects with higher funding thresholds.

Projects typically funded by ORIS include walkways, cycleways, blueways, water and cycle trails, mountain access routes, bridleways and open water amenities at bogs, rivers, lakes and beaches including tidal pools. The scheme explicitly excludes confined-course sports (such as golf or football) and motorised activities. Projects must be located in rural areas – schemes within the five main city boundaries are not eligible.

The co-financing rate for ORIS projects is up to 90%, meaning that community groups and local authorities need to provide only 10% of project costs from their own resources. This relatively low match-funding requirement makes the scheme accessible to small community organisations in areas where raising local funds can be challenging. Local community and voluntary groups submit proposals to their local authority for consideration – projects led by commercial businesses are not eligible.

🏃 Sport Ireland Outdoors

Sport Ireland Outdoors is the national body responsible for outdoor recreation coordination, trail development and trail standards. Operating within Sport Ireland, the national sports agency, it manages the National Trails Register – the official record of all inspected and registered walking and cycling trails in Ireland. The register currently includes over 920 trails at various stages of accreditation and development.

Sport Ireland Outdoors sets standards for trail construction, waymarking, grading and maintenance that all registered trails must meet. The organisation inspects trails against these standards and provides guidance to trail developers including local authorities, community groups, Coillte and the NPWS. The trail grading system categorises routes by difficulty, from easy accessible walks to strenuous mountain routes, helping users choose appropriate trails for their fitness and experience levels.

The National Trails Office, working within the Sport Ireland Outdoors structure, coordinates trail development nationally. This includes working with the Department of Rural and Community Development on the Walks Scheme, which pays private landowners to maintain trails on their property, and supporting blueway development through the Blueway Partnership. The office plays a crucial coordination role in a landscape where trail development involves multiple agencies, funding streams and landowners.

🌲 Coillte Recreation – Ireland’s Largest Outdoor Provider

Coillte, the state-owned forestry company, is the largest single provider of outdoor recreation land in Ireland. The company manages 440,000 hectares of primarily forested land and operates 260 recreation sites, twelve forest parks, six mountain bike centres and over 3,000km of marked walking trails. Over three million people visited Coillte’s top 50 recreational sites in 2024, representing a 10% increase on the previous year.

Coillte operates an open forest policy, meaning the general public are welcome to walk in any Coillte forest according to Leave No Trace principles. This is significant in an Irish context where private land access is not guaranteed, and Coillte’s estate represents one of the largest areas of freely accessible land in the country. The company has strategic partnerships with both Failte Ireland and the Department of Rural and Community Development to deliver recreational facilities that support tourism and rural economic development.

Avondale Forest Park in Wicklow, home to the Beyond the Trees treetop walk and viewing tower, has become Coillte’s most visited site. Rossmore Forest Park in Monaghan attracted over 340,000 visitors in 2024, while Ticknock in Dublin recorded over 260,000. Coillte has an ambition to double the number of recreation areas to 500, recognising the growing public demand for quality outdoor recreation spaces close to where people live.

📈 Post-Pandemic Surge and Growing Demand

The COVID-19 pandemic triggered a dramatic increase in outdoor recreation participation across Ireland. Lockdown restrictions pushed millions of people outdoors for exercise and mental health, and many discovered trails, forests, waterways and beaches they had never previously visited. Coillte reported visitor numbers to popular forests doubling and tripling during 2020 and 2021, and while the post-pandemic period has seen some normalisation, participation levels remain substantially higher than pre-2020 baselines.

This increased demand has created both opportunities and pressures. On the positive side, there is now stronger public and political support for outdoor recreation investment than at any previous point. The economic case for funding trails, amenities and access infrastructure is easier to make when millions of people are using these facilities regularly. On the other hand, infrastructure built for lower usage levels is straining under the weight of increased footfall – trail surfaces are degrading faster, car parks overflow, litter has increased at popular sites and conflicts between different user groups (walkers, cyclists, horse riders, dog walkers) have become more common.

Failte Ireland data shows that over 90% of adults in Ireland now participate in some form of outdoor recreation, underlining how central outdoor activity has become to Irish life. The Wild Atlantic Way, greenways, national parks, walking trails and blueways all form part of the infrastructure serving this demand, and the €360 million annual active travel programme is investing in the urban and suburban end of the outdoor recreation spectrum.

🏥 Health, Wellbeing and Inclusion

The connection between outdoor recreation and public health is increasingly recognised in government policy. Social prescribing programmes, where GPs and healthcare professionals refer patients to community-based activities including outdoor walking groups, are growing in Ireland. The health benefits of regular outdoor activity – reduced cardiovascular risk, improved mental health, stronger community connections, reduced social isolation – are well documented and provide a powerful justification for continued public investment in outdoor recreation infrastructure.

Accessibility and inclusion are priorities in the national strategy. Universal design principles are being incorporated into new trail and amenity builds, with wheelchair-accessible boardwalks, sensory trails and adapted activity provision becoming more common. Active Disability Ireland works with outdoor recreation providers to improve access for people with disabilities. However, the existing infrastructure stock was largely built without accessibility as a primary consideration, and retrofitting presents both cost and design challenges.

Youth participation is another strategic focus. The strategy aims to increase the number of young people active in the outdoors, recognising that childhood outdoor experiences establish lifelong participation patterns. Safe Routes to School, outdoor education programmes in Coillte forests and junior trail ranger initiatives all contribute to this goal.

🏔️ Adventure Tourism and International Positioning

Ireland is increasingly positioning itself as an adventure tourism destination in international markets. Surfing on the Atlantic coast, sea kayaking around offshore islands, rock climbing in the Burren and Donegal, and wild swimming in rivers, lakes and the sea are all growing in popularity with both domestic and international visitors. The Wild Atlantic Way provides the branded framework for marketing these experiences to international audiences, while local activity providers deliver the on-the-ground experiences.

The adventure tourism sector is characterised by small and micro businesses – surf schools, kayak guides, climbing instructors, mountain leaders and wild camping providers – that operate in some of Ireland’s most rural and economically disadvantaged communities. These businesses create skilled, year-round employment in areas where traditional industries have declined, and their growth depends directly on the quality of outdoor recreation infrastructure and the accessibility of natural landscapes.

🌱 Leave No Trace and Responsible Recreation

Leave No Trace Ireland is the national organisation promoting responsible outdoor recreation. Working in partnership with Sport Ireland Outdoors, Coillte, the NPWS and local authorities, Leave No Trace delivers education programmes, awareness campaigns and training for outdoor recreation providers. The seven Leave No Trace principles – plan ahead, travel on durable surfaces, dispose of waste properly, leave what you find, minimise campfire impacts, respect wildlife and be considerate of other visitors – provide the ethical framework for outdoor recreation in Ireland.

The importance of responsible recreation has grown alongside participation levels. Increased litter, unauthorised camping, campfire damage and disturbance to wildlife at popular sites have prompted targeted campaigns. Leave No Trace’s partnership with high-profile ambassadors and its “Love This Place” awareness campaign aim to change behaviour by building understanding of why responsible practices matter, rather than simply imposing rules.