A new 'hike and camper friendly' map created by a Co Derry woman which allows visitors to find access to free campsites, toilets and showers across Ireland has gone viral.
Arlene McAfee, from Maghera, said she decided to create the map after realising that public facilities were not advertised well enough online while wild camping in the Wicklow Mountains, just outside Dublin.
Ms McAfee, who is an avid mountain biker, said she used Google Maps to help pinpoint all of the locations across the island and from there it began to go viral.
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"It just went bonkers," Arlene told MyDerry. "I began adding public toilets that were free to use around the country. I also added garages, leisure centres, hostels and campsites. I've also approached businesses that would allow people to use their facilities for a small fee.
"I thought to myself that this might be something that other people would use and so I decided that I would put it up on a Facebook group called the Wild Atlantic Way.
"It went mad and hundreds of people began to message me and there were thousands of comments underneath the post that I had published. I couldn't believe that it got such a big response."
Since publishing the forever-growing map online, Arlene said that it has been downloaded nearly 50,000 times by people travelling throughout Ireland.
She is putting the viral trend down to the increase in staycations, saying more and more people have decided to explore their own country since the pandemic hit.
"I've definitely noticed there has been a huge surge in the number of people camping in sites across Ireland. I would do a lot of wild camping now because campsites are jammed packed with people and sometimes they're a bit too noisy for me, but it's brilliant to see more and more people getting involved in what we have to offer here."
She continued. "People who have been messaging me have asked why I don't monetise it but I don't want to do that because as soon as you do you owe someone a service. I don't mind putting someone's business on the map and maybe getting an experience out of it, but as soon as you start asking for money then it can get complicated.
"The map itself is getting around 1000 map views a day and around 100 followers a day and that's increasing with every day that passes because people are on their summer holidays and I suspect they'll want to know these types of things.
"I only put this up four weeks ago and I've managed to gain 3000 followers as well on the social media pages. There seems to be a real need for it."
If you would like to view the map, you can do so by clicking HERE. You can also join Arlene's Facebook group 'Public Showers Ireland' online HERE.
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