Ireland hopping

Shared Island initiative sees Ella Walker find the best trails on the Emerald Isle

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House martins and swallows are our constant companions, whether snapping up mayflies near Glencar Waterfall or swooping from the eaves of The Shandon Hotel overlooking Marble Hill Strand beach in Donegal.

It might have celebrated its 10th official birthday last year, but Ireland's Wild Atlantic Way has been used by generations of these nippy little birds, who fly from the Sahara to spend their summers in Ireland.

The clever things know about Northern Ireland's Causeway Coastal Route too.

Aside from the 60-million-year-old natural geometrical marvel that is Giant's Causeway, this 120-mile stretch of raggedy, bewitching coastline, which starts in Belfast and ends in Derry, often gets lopped off road trips.

But no more.

Tourism Northern Ireland and Failte Ireland have teamed up to remind visitors that once you hit the end of the Wild Atlantic Way, the sea hasn't run its course, the cliffs don’t peter out and the Guinness really doesn't dry up. It's part of the Shared Island initiative, which "aims to harness the full potential of the Good Friday Agreement to enhance cooperation, connection and mutual understanding on the island".

And it is possible to do both stretches, from Kinsale, County Cork, up over the crook of the island's north, to Belfast, over three to four weeks, but it’s surprising how much you can see in just a few days.

It would also be easy to stay put, wherever you end up. Like Paul Cole from the Whitehead Community Association, a “blow-in” who moved to the Victorian seaside town in the 1960s. He takes us on a gentle e-bike tour of Blackhead Coastal Path.

“You can be born and never leave, but you can't be buried here,” he explains ominously, (it's a town joke, there's no graveyard).