People are being warned not to climb Co Donegal's An Earagail after heavy rain washed away parts of a new €630,000 pathway.
A new 3km pathway up the mountain located in Gaoth Dobhair was completed last October.
Since then the mountain has enjoyed a huge rise in the number of visitors looking to scale to the top of the 751-metre (2,464 ft) peak.
Each week hundreds of locals and visitors are now undertaking the challenge in a bid to enjoy the views from the top of An Earagail.
However, a spokesperson for the Errigal Mountain Project has now asked the public not to use the pathway for the immediate future.
A spokesperson said: "Unfortunately, the path on Errigal was very badly damaged during [Monday's] severe rain."
"We have assessed the situation and see no option but to close the path until we decide on a course of action on how to repair the damage.
"This is extremely unfortunate as there has been a huge investment by the local community and Donegal County Council both in terms of time, effort and finances.
"We respectfully ask that you do not climb the mountain at this time."
Work on compiling the new pathway began in April 2022 by the McGowan Environmental Engineering team after safety concerns were recognised by Donegal County Council.
The new path has brought great relief to climbers already as they can now avoid the eroded peat bog at the bottom of the summit.
Stone steps were placed on the majority of the hill, which had become badly eroded from the thousands of footsteps that displaced rocks in the past.
As hikers have been encouraged to stick to the new path, the surrounding mountain habitat is said to be recovering well.
However, the heavy rain in recent days has displaced many parts of the pathway by shifting large stones which now have to be refitted and replaced.
A timescale on that repair work is not yet known.
Funding for the project came through the 'Sustainable Access & Restoration Project' which is funded by the Outdoor Recreation Infrastructure Scheme and managed by Donegal County Council.
