Ecotourism project shortlisted for award

A NORTH Clare initiative was this week shortlisted for the Chambers Ireland Excellence in Local Government Awards.

Clare County Council’s Ecotourism in the Burren is the county’s only project to make the shortlist and features among five initiatives competing for the Supporting Tourism award.
The Burren Connect Project is working on environmental protection and sustainable visitor management in the Burren region.
Supported by Clare County Council, Shannon Development, Geological Survey of Ireland, National Parks and Wildlife Services, National Monuments Services, Fáilte Ireland, BurrenBeo Trust and the Burren Connect Advisory Committee, it aims to achieve sustainable tourism and environmental protection through the development of ecotourism.
Two years ago, the Burren Connect Project organised a number of meetings and workshops on the topic of ecotourism in the Burren. The first event was a research trip to the Greenbox area, marketed as Ireland’s first ecotourism destination. This is the only area in Ireland, north or south, which applies standards, criteria, labelling and training to develop and distinguish its ecotourism product. The Greenbox administrative team and certified businesses were, in turn, invited to a public workshop in the Burren to discuss their experience with the certification process, its development and application.
It was later agreed to set up a working group composed of half of representatives of relevant agencies and half from businesses to explore and define an appropriate ecotourism model for the Burren.
Thirteen Burren-based businesses were presented with certificates in ecotourism at a ceremony in Gregan’s Castle Hotel, Ballyvaughan in July of last year.
This is the second year Clare County Council has been nominated for a Chambers Ireland Excellence in Local Government Award for Ecotourism in the Burren.
“We are delighted to be nominated again for this award. We are really looking forward to launching the group as a Fáilte Ireland accredited ecotourism network next month,” Edel Hayes, IT and communications officer with Burren Connect Project, told The Clare Champion.
Commenting on the shortlisted nominees, John Gormley, Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, said, “Quality customer service is a central component of the successful operation and management of local authority business. It’s important to continue to maintain and indeed raise those standards of performance and it’s equally important to acknowledge and highlight them when we can.”
“The announcement of the nominees for the Chambers Ireland 2010 Excellence in Local Government Awards provides such an opportunity and the event allows us to publicly pay tribute to our local authorities in striving to offer the best possible service to their customers.”
This is the seventh year of the awards, held in association with the Department of Environment, Heritage and Local Government.
The awards ceremony will take place on Thursday, October 28 in the Burlington Hotel, Dublin. Awards will be presented across categories, including Supporting Active Communities; Festival of the Year; Strategic Water Initiative; Sports Development and Local Authority Economic Efficiencies. Awards will also be presented to the City or County Council of the Year and the Town or Borough Council of the Year.