Council criticised for €10,000 Australian trip

Clare County Council was criticised yesterday for approving a tour of one of Australia's best known wine regions by a council delegation.

Clare mayor, Mr Patrick O'Gorman (FF) and county manager, Mr Alec Fleming are to fly to Australia today with their wives as they begin a 10-day tour of Gilbert and Clare Valley in south Australia.

The Clare Valley tourism website describes the area as one of the "oldest and most famous wine regions, and also one of the most scenic, presenting visitors with a series of small intimate valleys and magnificent views".

It says visitors can "indulge in gourmet food and premium wines in one of the world's most picturesque winegrowing regions". The region is two hours drive from Adelaide.

"The €10,000 trip follows quickly on a five-day council research visit to the Algarve in Portugal last month, which was aimed at improving the council's planned visitor centre at the Cliffs of Moher.

However, in a report on that trip put before last night's council meeting, the head of the delegation, Mr Gerard Dollard, admitted that nothing new had been learned from the visit to Sagres where the 12- member council group discovered that the cliffs at Sagres were only 120 ft high, significantly lower than the spectacular 700 ft Cliffs of Moher.

In his report on the €5,000 trip, the head of planning at the council said the group felt the site "was a good example of what one should not do, rather than what one should do" and described practices at the site that would be frowned upon in the council's plan for the cliffs.

He said: "The group noted significant evidence of casual trading, a complete lack of management at the site, no public toilet facilities and generally a disorganised and unregulated state of affairs."

He added: "Visitor management was poor with people wandering freely, sometimes putting themselves at risk and evidence of localised wear and tear and damage to the environment, while litter was evident."

The Portugal trip was yesterday described by Clare Green Party spokesman Mr Brian Meaney "as a wanton waste of taxpayers money and the council should admit that. They would have been better served going to see the cliffs at Dun Aengus on Inis Mor".

The trip to Australia also came under fire from Mr Meaney. He said: "With the council currently €10 million in the red and a budget for 2004 at the end of the month expected to propose cutbacks in services next year, it is highly inappropriate to stage such an extravagant trip at this time."

Mr O'Gorman strongly defended the trip. "We will be promoting Clare every way possible. We won't have much time to enjoy ourselves," he said.

Mr O'Gorman said that he is bringing with him brochures promoting the Cliffs of Moher, Bunratty Castle, the Ailwee Caves and Lough Derg and other places of interest in Clare to show to his Australian counterparts when he formally addresses them.

Admitting that he hopes to sample the region's wines during the trip, Mr O'Gorman said: "This is not a junket. I will be taking every opportunity to promote Clare."

Clare County Council has been twinned with the local council in Gilbert and Clare Valley since 1986 and a delegation from the area visited Clare last year.

According to council spokesman, Mr Michael McNamara, the concept of the twinning arose directly from a State visit by Dr Patrick Hillery, then the President to Australia in 1985.

"President Hillery visited the district of Clare," Mr MacNamara said, "and it was brought to his attention that the district had been named in the 19th century after a Clare man called Gleeson who had settled there and made his mark on the area.

"The people of that district were anxious that a formal twinning of both areas should proceed."