Council ‘own goal’ with Cliffs charges?

A SENIOR Clare County Council official and a number of local councillors have defended new visitor charges at the Cliffs of Moher after one councillor described the new charges as an ‘own goal’.

Ger Dollard, director of Cliffs of Moher Centre Ltd and a director of services  with Clare County Council has defended the council’s expenditure, saying the €31.5 million Cliffs of Moher Visitor Centre was built to the highest standards to provide proper tourist facilities for one of the most famous attractions in the world.
Mr Dollard told a council meeting on Monday that maintaining the highest standards and associated staff costs had resulted in annual loan charges of about €1.1 million, which has to be recouped with charges.
“We can debate how we can recover the charges but we must charge,” he said.
Having completed a number of customer satisfaction surveys at the visitor centre since it opened in early 2007, Mr Dollard said the council is happy it is providing a value product.
He pointed out visitors are happy with the services and facilities at the cliffs and management hopes to bring in a new pass for local people in the near future.
He revealed the cost of the main visitor centre project was €31.45m with €104,000 spent on the refurbishment of O’Brien’s Tower.
The capital costs were funded by a grant of €10.8m from Fáilte Ireland, a loan of €15m from the European Investment Bank, a grant of €30,000 under the Conversation Grant Scheme with the balance provided from the council’s own resources. An unfunded balance of €2.2 million remains in the account.
In 2007, revenue expenditure of €2,568,968 exceeded revenue income by €56,563; revenue expenditure jumped to €3,280,782 a year later with expenditure €2,921,300, leaving a shortfall of €359,482. Last year, the deficit dropped to €164,423 after expenditure of €2,767,098 and income of €2,602,675 was taken into account.
Visitor numbers increased by 3.13% from 2006 to a high of 940,455 in 2007 before it dropped by 14% in 2008 to 808,310 with another 5.6% fall to 762,838 last year.
Councillor Gerry Flynn said it might be time that sections of the Cliffs of Moher Visitor Centre be included in the National Management Asset Agency (NAMA) if the council needed to separate its loss-making parts of facilities with the profit-making side due to the recession.
Describing the cliffs as a fantastic facility and a national monument, Councillor Flynn was opposed to the proposed €6 per head charge at the facility and said it is vital to retain the free to view option for visitors.
Describing the new charges as an “own goal”, the Shannon-based councillor highlighted a perceived marketing deficit when it comes to promoting the cliffs.
Councillor Patricia McCarthy underlined a comparison of visitor attractions on a national radio programme, where staff at the cliffs got a 100% satisfaction rating, while the overall centre got a mark of 16 out of 20, with visitors feeling it represented good value for money.
Councillor McCarthy pointed out people could still walk in and see the cliffs free of charge and that people only had to pay when they entered the visitor centre.
Concern about the lack of locally-made sandwiches was expressed by Councillor James Breen.
He said an American visitor told him he could only purchase sandwiches made in Kerry and England and branded it a “scandal” that some of the food sold there isn’t made in the county at a time when employment is needed locally.
Councillor Joe Arkins said there is an onus on councillors to be positive about the cliffs, claiming the only people complaining about the new charges were individuals with “chips on their shoulders” who got a lot of coverage in the media.
“The tourists using the cliffs seem to be happy, so why is everyone knocking it?” he asked.
While the timing of the new charges could have been better, Councillor Martin Conway said the new pricing structure is family friendly and offers value for money, while Councillor Richard Nagle said tourism providers would be praising the cliffs if they happened to be Galway or Kerry.
He expressed disappointment that Clare people are criticising the new charges at a time when the cliffs is in the final placings to secure a place as the eighth Wonder of the World.
“We need to cop ourselves on. The only people talking about the negatives is people in our own county.
“We need to the support the cliffs because winning this competition would make a huge difference,” he said.