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info@eastcorkjournal.ie


East Cork


by GERARD O’BRIEN


Embarking on a fi- nancial plan is like sail- ing around the world. The voyage won’t


al-


ways go to plan, and there’ll be rough seas. But the odds of reach- ing your destination in- crease greatly if you are prepared, flexible, pa- tient, and well-advised. A mistake many inex-


perienced sailors make is not having a plan at all. They embark with- out a clear sense of their destination. And once they do decide, they


Business Sailing With The Tides


often find themselves lost at sea in the wrong boat


with inadequate


provisions. Likewise, in planning an investment journey, you need to de- cide on your goal. A first step might be to consid- er whether the goal is realistic and achievable. For instance, while you may long to retire in the south of France, you may not be prepared to sacrifice your needs today to satisfy that dis- tant desire. Once you are set on realistic destination,


a


you need to ensure you have the right portfolio to get you there. Have you planned for mul- tiple


What degree of


contingencies? “bad


weather” can your plan withstand along the


way? Key to a successful voyage is a good navi- gator. A trusted adviser is like


that, regularly


taking coordinates and making adjustments, if necessary. If your cir- cumstances change, the adviser may suggest you replot your course. As with the weather


at sea, markets can be unpredictable. A sud- den squall can whip up waves of volatility, tides can shift, and strong currents can threaten to blow you off course. Like a seasoned sailor, an experienced adviser will work with the con- ditions.


“Once the storm


passes, you can pick up speed again. Just as a sturdy vessel will help you withstand most con-


ditions at sea, a well-di- versified portfolio can act as a bulwark against the sometimes-tem- pestuous conditions in markets”. Circumnavigating


the globe is not exciting every day. Patience is required with local cus- toms and paperwork as you pull into different ports. Likewise, a lack of attention to costs and taxes is the enemy of many a long-term fi- nancial plan. Distractions can also


send investors, like sail- ors, off course. In the face of “hot” invest- ment trends, it takes dis- cipline not to veer from your chosen plan. Like the sirens of Greek my- thology, media pundits can also be diverting,


tempting you to change tack and act on news that is already priced in to markets. A lack of flexibility is


another impediment to a successful investment journey. If it


doesn’t


look as though you’ll make your destination in time, you may have to extend your voyage, take a different route to get there, or even mod- erate your goal. The important point you become with


is that comfortable the


idea that uncertainty is inherent to the invest- ment journey, just as it is with any sea voyage. That is why prepara- tion and planning are so critical. While you can’t control every outcome, you can be prepared for


the range of possibilities and understand that you have clear choices if things don’t go accord- ing to plan. If you can’t live with the volatility, you can change your plan. If the goal looks unachievable, you can lower your sights. If it doesn’t look as if you’ll arrive on time, you can extend your journey. Of course, not every-


one’s journey is the same. Neither is every- one’s destination. We take different routes to different places, and we meet a range of chal- lenges and opportuni- ties along the way. But for all of us, it’s critical that we


are


prepared for our jour- neys in the right vessel, keep our destinations in mind, stick with the plans, and have a trust- ed navigator to chart our courses and keep us


Preventing Trespassers On Your Land by KAREN WALSH


QUESTION The family farm has


been in my family for generations and in all those years I remem- ber only a few incidents with people trespassing on our land causing a problem. I am not one to complain over noth- ing and generally I do not mind when people accidentally trespass onto our land or indeed when some people do so intentionally. However, in recent years the teen- agers of our area have started to congregate in an old abandoned field adjoining our lands. This in itself has not


caused any problems but in order to reach the field many teenag- ers have started to cut over part of our farm as a short cut. In doing so this often leads to emp- ty cans and litter being strewn on our land. The issue seems slight


and I would usually not mind people on our land, however, the litter has started to cause a bit of a nuisance and I would worry that some- one might injure them- selves on my farm. I was wondering if there was any way for me to keep the teenagers off of our land or to protect myself in the case that something does happen while land?


they are on my


ANSWER This is an issue that landowners face


most at one point or anoth-


er. There can be many problems associated with trespassers and it is wise to take measures to prevent people being on your land even if it does not


necessarily


bother you. A great deal of farmers may be un- aware that people who trespass on their lands have a certain amount of rights and you as the landowner owe them a duty of care. In Irish law a tres-


passer is recognised as a person who does not have authority or per- mission to be on your land. The duty of care that a landowner owes to a trespasser is two- fold. Firstly the land- owner is not to inten- tionally injure or harm the person and secondly the landowner is not to act with reckless disre- gard for the trespasser. The first duty of care


is rather standard and self-explanatory. The occupier of the


land


must not set out to in- tentionally harm any trespassers. The second duty of care, however, is a bit more complicated. The


phrase “reckless


disregard” must first be understood. This means that you must take all care and measures


to


allow for the safety of any persons entering the land and to protect and prevent from any obvi- ous or hidden dangers that might have the po- tential to harm any per- sons entering the land. In effect you must have regard for any dangers that exist on your lands and take every effort to protect any potential trespassers from these dangers. If an incident were


to occur with a tres- passer being injured on


Tel: 021 463 8000 • Email: info@eastcorkjournal.ie • Web: www.eastcorkjournal.ie


your land and the case was brought before the court then a few other factors would also be looked at. The


court


would consider the cir- cumstance of the indi- vidual case. They would look at whether there was a reasonable expec- tation for the landowner to know the trespasser might be on their lands. They will then consider the danger itself and whether it was reason- able to expect the land- owner to protect the trespasser from it. A few other factors will also be evaluated, such as the care the trespasser took for their own safety. Another way to pre-


vent trespassers on your land that the courts will assess is if you have any visible signs or warn- ings up.


If there are


any dangers on your land the signs should


say something to the effect of “WARNING” or “Danger Ahead Do Not Cross”. If you have


stating that


signs up simply trespassers


will be prosecuted then that does not constitute a warning to the tres- passer in terms of their safety. These signs may be very effective, howev- er, in keeping trespassers off your land. In general it is wise to


have signs up warning trespassers


away and


letting them know about any potential dangers in the area in order that they can protect them- selves and to protect yourself. While having a sign up may not nec- essarily help you in a court case it will not do you any harm either. Without having to re-


sort to prosecuting tres- passers as a landowner you can still take steps


eastcorkjournal


on target. Gerard O’Brien LL.B


LL.M CFP® QFA is a Certified Financial Planner and the Own- er of Heritage Wealth Management, a Finan- cial Planning practice based at 27 Cook Street, Cork. For more infor- mation, contact Gerard at gerard@heritage- wealth.ie www.herit- agewealth.ie Disclaimer: All data and information pro- vided within this


arti-


cle is for informational purposes only. Heritage Wealth Management Limited makes no rep- resentations as to accu- racy, completeness, suit- ability, or validity of any information and will not be liable for any errors, omissions or delays in this information or any losses, injuries, or dam- ages arising from its use.


to protect yourself from any liability that may occur. I would always advise any landowner to make sure any dangers on their lands are pro- tected and to warn po- tential trespassers about such dangers in any way you can. Karen Walsh, from a


farming background, is a solicitor practicing in Walsh & Partners, Solic- itors, Dublin and Cork, and author of ‘Farming and the Law’. Email:


info@wal-


shandpartners.ie Web: www.walshan-


dpartners.ie Disclaimer: While


every care is taken to en- sure accuracy of infor- mation contained in this article, solicitor Karen Walsh does not accept responsibility for errors or omissions howsoever arising, and you should seek legal advice in re- lation to your particu- lar circumstances at the earliest possible time.


@eastcorkjournal / #eastcorkjournal


Thursday, 3rd


May 2018


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