An ad-hoc approach to managing tourism in the Burren prevails despite previous plans to manage the region, writes Gordon Deegan
Fifteen years after plans were unveiled for a visitor centre at Mullaghmore, there are no signposts in the Burren telling tourists where the mountain is or what area the Burren National Park covers. Visitors rely on directions from locals.
The absence of any signage or information for one of Ireland's most recognisable landscapes highlights the ad-hoc approach to promoting and managing tourism in the Burren.
This may all be about to change, however, as Clare County Council, along with a number of other agencies, unveil ambitious plans for an integrated visitor management strategy for the area.
The move coincides with work by the EU-sponsored Burren Life Project on a blueprint for sustaining the region into the future.
Along with these two initiatives is an ambitious proposal by the Heritage Council's wildlife officer, Dr Liam Lysaght, who believes the Government should establish a national park authority for the Burren in a dramatically enlarged national park that would cover almost the entire north Clare area and stretches of south Galway.
Describing the existing national park as simply too small, Dr Lysaght said a large-scale designation "has huge marketing potential - national parks are recognised worldwide as special places".
The chief political proponent of the Mullaghmore visitor centre, Junior Minister and local TD Tony Killeen (FF), said yesterday the council's €1.4 million initiative "is the most significant development tourism-related initiative to take place in the Burren since the attempt to provide a visitor centre at the national park".
Mr Killeen said: "The council's plan and the Burren Life work are very positive developments because the approach to the Burren in recent times has been totally haphazard and disorganised and any services have been provided by the private sector."
The Minister said Dr Lysaght's proposal was worthy of consideration and should be studied by the Department of the Environment.
In its proposal lodged with Fáilte Ireland, the council said the absence of a visitor management plan and growing tourism demands "are taking their toll on the environment of the Burren".
The council said three major reports had been published on managing the region over the past 12 years, with worthy recommendations, "yet unfortunately, until recently very few actions have followed these recommendations".
The absence of a visitor management strategy had resulted in the destruction of limestone pavement by visitors building "mini-dolmens", writing graffiti on ancient monuments and picking rare and endangered flora, the council said.
A member of the Burren Action Group that successfully fought Government plans for Mullaghmore, Prof Emer Colleran of NUI Galway, yesterday welcomed the council's proposals. "It is long overdue as nothing has happened in the Burren for the past four or five years, and is to be welcomed as long as the proposals are open to debate and involve all the stakeholders in the community."
Chairman of the Burren Irish Farmers' Association, Michael Davoren, said: "These are exciting times in the Burren and it is wonderful to see environmentalists and farmers working together in the Burren Life project. We are very pleased with the progress so far, but the acid test will be in the findings of the project. We are under no illusions."
The director of Heart of Burren Walks, Tony Kirby, said: "The Burren is Ireland's most important landscape and is a world-class place, but it is not a world-class tourist destination because of the lack of equilibrium between mass tourism and sensitive tourism."