Information regarding Proposed National Park for Mourne.  This section includes the position statement of Mourne Heritage Trust towards a National Park for Mourne and the Farmers' Study Visit Report to the Cairngorms and Snowdonia National Parks in October 2004.

A copy of the Mourne Heritage Trust Position Statement can be viewed in PDF format by clicking here.

A Copy of the Farmers Study Visit Report to the Cairngorms and Snowdonia National Park can be viewed in PDF Format by clicking here.

The Mourne Heritage Trust has issued the first of what it intends to be a series of position statements on the proposed national park for Mourne.  The Trust has taken the step in order to provide some information for members of the public.  The statement sets out the aspirations of the Mourne Heritage Trust for a ‘Celtic Model’ National Park in Mourne and sets out in broad terms what benefit the Trust feels the designation could bring to the wider Mourne area.

Speaking at the launch of the position statement, Dr Arthur Mitchell, Chairman of Mourne Heritage Trust said “The statement also attempts to dispel some of the myths and rumours that have been circulating in relation to the national park. The position statement also outlines progress to date in respect of the national park with respect to proposed new primary legislation for national parks across Northern Ireland and the work of the Mourne National Park Working Party.

Mr Tony Gates, former Chief Executive of the Trust, said the position statement was important as the Mourne Heritage Trust, strong advocates of a national park receive a large number of requests for information from the general public. “We intend to update the position statement to take account of on-going developments in respect of both the nation park legislation and proposals for a Mourne National Park”. 

The  position statement  is  available  from  the  Mourne Heritage Trust, 87 Central Promenade, Newcastle, BT33 0HH, Tel. 028 43724059, e-mail mht@mourne.co.uk.  The statement will also be distributed by a number of information outlets across the Mourne area. 

In 18 October 2004, the Mourne Heritage Trust led a Study Visit to both Snowdonia National Park (Wales) and Cairngorms National Park (Scotland). This was an excellent opportunity for farmers of Mourne to investigate two National Parks and give Mourne Farmers a chance to observe the effect that this has had on the local landowners.

16 farmers from the area attended, together with the former Chief Executive of Mourne Heritage Trust, Mr. Tony Gates. Presentations, discussions and site visits were arranged in both parks; subjects included farm conservation and recreation, farming and farming diversification, farm buildings, common land issues, bird conservation and a visit to a dairy and beef farm.

On return the farmers held three information meetings at three different venues to inform the local community of their findings and discuss the implications of a National Park in Mourne.

This report is an account of the study visit by the farmers who attended and has been published with the assistance of the Mourne Heritage Trust.

More information on their work can be found at: http://www.mourneworkingparty.org/