Minister announces €10m grant for Cliffs of Moher

Over a decade after it was first proposed, the €25 million Cliffs of Moher visitor centre finally got the green light yesterday after receiving €10 million in grant aid from Fáilte Ireland.

The announcement was made by the Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism, Mr O'Donoghue, just weeks ahead of the local elections.

The estimated 600,000 tourists who visit the cliffs each year are currently served by a tea-room and shop, while visitors during the busy summer season have to queue for limited toilet facilities.

Mr O'Donoghue said the development would deliver a world-class visitor experience, with the promoters expecting annual visitor numbers to increase from 650,000 to 790,000 over the first five years of operation.

Clare County Council is to also seek World Heritage Site status for the 700-ft Cliffs of Moher.

The €10 million allocated to the cliffs project represents a large proportion of grants totalling €13.5 million allocated yesterday to 12 projects nationally under Fáilte Ireland's Tourism Product Development Scheme.

The allocation of the €10 million only took place after the Minister for the Environment, Mr Cullen, earlier this month sanctioned the council to draw down €15 million to finance the project.

Due to doubts over loan sanction being forthcoming in response to a national cap on local authority borrowing, the county council earlier this year stalled all preparatory works on the project.

The council sought the loan as it has no funding of its own to develop capital projects.

Yesterday's announcement comes 18 months after An Bord Pleanála granted the council planning permission for the project in spite of objections from Shannon Development and An Taisce.

Ironically, Shannon Development is now to market the visitor centre. It will also operate retail space at the centre, which will be built into the hill side at the cliffs.

Already, the council has spent over €1 million on consultants' fees on the project since it was first mooted in the early 1990s when the project had a price tag of €3.8 million.

The cost of the project is now more than six times the original estimation.