Sir, – With reference to Tim King’s letter of August 11th (“Other ways for greenways with our network of quiet boreens and back lanes”), it is certainly true that the boreens of rural Ireland are an underexploited resource for cycling.But it is important to acknowledge what Ireland lacks when it comes to countryside access in comparison to other European countries. France, Spain, Italy and, above all, Wales and England have their own quiet rural lanes, treasured by cyclists; but they all also have extensive networks of off-road rights of way which allow safe and pleasurable access for pedestrians away from tarmac without interfering with landownership.A telling illustration of this deficit in Ireland is to look at the “Slow Ways” initiative in Britain, which makes use – with official funding and support – of both the English equivalent of the boreens and the off-road footpaths and bridleways to chart an enormous web of accessible cross-country routes without a single compulsory purchase order (CPO) required. Such an initiative is currently unimaginable in Ireland.Expensive and over-engineered “greenways” and the provocative mechanism of the CPO are a product of the absence of meaningful countryside access legislation in Ireland and the lack of a means for creating public rights of way that can coexist with private ownership of the land they cross. – Yours, etc,TIM HANNIGAN (Keep Ireland Open committee member),Loughrea,Co Galway.