THE picture-postcard image of brightly painted fishing boats, manned by men in floppy- caps and short-sleeves, ferrying wide-eyed tourists across the lakes of Killarney, is always a joy to behold.

The sparkling sunshine of last Friday evening added an extra dimension to the age-old visual as pilgrims, mainly local, were expertly guided away from dry land to attend the annual mass on Innisfallen Island.

This wonderful custom is one of the few great local traditions that remain in Killarney and it was heartening to see so many children and teenagers embarking on the journey travelled by their parents, grand-parents and great-grandparents before them.

The mass on the historysteeped island is one of the few remaining examples of Killarney putting its spectacular local resources to good use.

It is a great shame that there seems to be a reluctance to maintain the great traditions we have inherited, particularly those that can foster a greater appreciation for the sheer beauty of our natural surroundings.

Whatever happened, for example, to the colourful annual pilgrimage to the ancient site at Clochmochuda at Knockreer which, in years gone by, frequently attracted hundreds of locals anxious to partake in an open-air mass?

Why, for example, have many schools abandoned the practice of regular nature walks through the national park where even the most mischievous of schoolboys can quickly become transfixed and momentarily transformed by nature?

Why is it that a vast majority of today’s generation have never even heard of previously popular locations like Dundag at Muckross and the wonderfully named Sandy Bottom at Knockreer?

The answer to all of the above could well be the spiralling cost of public liability insurance which is rapidly developing into one of the greatest scandals of our time.

But not even obscene commercial anomalies can prevent the great outdoors from being savoured and admired and that is why it is so refreshing to see great traditions like the mass on Innisfallen being passed on from one generation to the next. It goes without saying, of course, that a distinct line of what is acceptable and what is not has to be drawn when it comes to the utilisation of our natural amenities.

It is reasonable to presume that there is a long list of shrewd entrepreneurs willing and waiting to exploit the potential of the many attractions Kerry has to offer.

But anything that would injure the almost sacred reputation of such facilities has to be resisted with all the force the concerned public can muster.

Mercifully, humanity was spared the living hell of having a golf course sited in the heart of Killarney National Park thanks to the tenacity of a group of concerned locals who fought long and hard to prevent it from happening.

Readers may recall that, back in the early 1990s, Killarney Golf and Fishing Club had sought permission to utilise a section of the park as a playground for grown men and women and their plan was right on course until common sense finally kicked in. The very fact that the National Park at Knockreer was not desecrated by golf greens was a triumph for decency over obscenity.

And those that want the right thing to be done, and be seen to be done, should remain grateful to organisations like the Killarney Nature Conservation Group and conscientious individuals like Owen and Rose Barnes and Kevin Tarrant who stepped in to wage war on the ludicrous golf in the park proposal.

There are those that remain of the opinion that the development would have been rubberstamped by the government of the day were it not for the fact that there was a general election looming.

Kerry politicians, of the Fianna Fail persuasion in particular, were fearful that they would pay at the polls if the land deal was forced through.

And so it came to pass that the then Taoiseach, Albert Reynolds, finally dismissed the idea of golf in the park when he arrived by chopper to the grounds of the Great Southern Hotel in the last few days of the pre-election hustings.

When his helicopter touched down he immediately noticed that a small group of protesters had gathered around him and he dutifully announced that there would be no golf in the park as long as he was the man in charge.

For his co-operation, Albert went home to Kathleen armed with a fresh salmon caught in the Lakes of Killarney which was used by the protesters as a symbolic prop to stress their point that Heaven’s Reflex should remain as pure as possible and beyond the reach of opportunistic commercial concerns.