Shannon Heritage not consulted over Cliffs charges

CLARE County Council has been accused of failing to consult with Shannon Heritage and other independent traders at the Cliffs of Moher before its new charges for facilities were announced recently.

Responding to a Clare Champion query, a Shannon Heritage spokeswoman confirmed the company was not consulted by the council before the charges were made public. The spokeswoman added the company had sought a meeting with the council to discuss this issue.
Under the old pricing structure, vehicles incurred a parking charge of €8 and a €4.95 entry fee to the Cliffs of Moher Visitor Experience. Management at the Cliffs are now planning to introduce a new €6 charge per person, covering parking and entry to the visitor centre. Children under 12 will go free.
Criticism of the timing of the announcement of the new charges in the middle of the tourist season was expressed by several speakers at a public meeting in the Liscannor Bay Hotel on Thursday night.
Speaking to The Clare Champion, John O’Reilly, who has been operating as a trader at the Cliffs of Moher for 25 years, expressed fears that the new pricing structure would result in a further decline in business for local operators.
Mr O’Reilly claimed six traders were opposed to the new charges, which they regard as too expensive for tourists. He estimated that his own business has dropped by about 25% over the last six months.
“The biggest problem for traders is people are not spending money when they come to the Cliffs of Moher. Whether it is the economic downturn or charges, people are not spending as much as they did before.
“An announcement about new charges should not have been made in the middle of the season. Tourists were disappointed and felt they were paying enough already.
“Traders were not consulted about the new charges. An announcement was made and the following morning, we got a letter from management explaining the reasons for the charges.
“Traders are against the new charges. We get a lot of American families with two or three generations, grandparents, parents and teenagers. If there is a group of six adults, they will pay €36 compared to €8. That is before they spend any money on food and drink,” he said.
Tony Considine employs four full-time and six part-time people in his coffee shop at the visitor centre. He proposed that a new annual pass be introduced for local people who are visiting the Cliffs all their lives and would like to see a better group or family rate to encourage more visitors.
He told The Clare Champion it is important that walkers and cyclists who travel from nearby villages, should be able to access the toilets without having to pay for admission to the visitor centre.
However, he also acknowledged that the council has to levy some charges for the use of facilities to try and recoup the huge cost of the visitor centre.
He also expressed disappointment with the timing of the announcement in the middle of the tourist season.
Cliffs director, Katherine Webster told The Clare Champion she would be happy to meet any group who wished to discuss the new pricing structure and facilities at the site.
Ms Webster said Shannon Heritage were involved in a strategic review of operations at the site and one of the recommendations that was made indicated measures were needed to make the facility more family friendly.
Acknowledging that Shannon Heritage were not involved in the decision-making process, she understood that representatives from local traders were invited to take part in the review but opted not to do so.
Stating the new pricing structure would be introduced in early August, she said management hoped to put in place a new charge for local people who visit the facility on a regular basis.
She insisted there would be no charge to view the Cliffs and explained charges were levied to cover the cost of maintaining facilities at the site such as parking, toilets, safety measures and waste management, which was a big problem a few years ago.
“It has been recognised that it is now safe to bring children to the Cliffs. Facilities have to be provided to cater for the large number of people visiting the centre on an annual basis.
“In 2006, the Lonely Planet Guide described the Cliffs as a ‘sight seeing circus’ and a number of concerns such as litter management were raised by tour operators, which have been addressed.
“I came on board after the visitor centre was built. The design of the visitor centre was developed in the early ’90s and one of the major considerations was the provision of a facility that would not negatively impact on the environment.
“The fact it was placed underground came at a cost and a lot of work also took place on the cliff edge and viewing areas to make the Cliffs safe for visitors. We may extend the exemption for children up to the age of 16 and we made the announcement to make the facility more family-friendly.
“It will cost €12 for two adults and an unlimited number of children to use the facilities for a half a day’s entertainment, which is good value for money. The Cliffs are employing about 60 people on a year-round basis and 100 on a seasonal basis,” she said.
Asked about a claim that sandwiches on sale at the Cliffs came from Kerry and England, Ms Webster said sandwiches provided in the Long Dock restaurant were made on site and the facility supported a wide variety of Clare suppliers and businesses.
“I don’t know where the story about the English sandwiches came from,” she said. She pointed out that overseas visitors are used to paying for facilities at other international attractions, such as $20 for parking at Niagara Falls. She confirmed that people who came to view the Cliffs would still be able to access the toilets free of charge once they didn’t use the exhibition centre.

North Clare lobby group to seek action
A NEW action group has been established to seek a meeting with Clare County Council over decision to increase charges at the Cliffs.
The committee is to ask the council to secure an alternative to the proposed new costs.
The new group will be headed up by former trader Gerry Cahill, who organised a public meeting in the Liscannor Bay Hotel on Thursday night last.
Due to the short notice, only 20 people attended but the anger over the proposed changes and fears that visitor numbers will decline if the new pricing structure is introduced were expressed loud and clear by several speakers.
The meeting heard calls for the Cliffs of Moher to be taken out of the hands of the council and given to a national tourism agency with experience in running what is one of Ireland’s most popular visitor attractions.
The council was also severely criticised for spending €31.54m on what was described as a “white elephant” and an “underground restaurant” amid claims that the authority is paying huge loan charges on a €15m debt.
Once members of the new group meet, it hopes to organise a meeting with the council and then hold another public meeting.
A number of contributors urged the council to postpone the introduction of the new charges to facilitate proper consultation with local community groups.
However, Mr Cahill stressed the new group wants to be as constructive as possible. Addressing the meeting, he explained it is vital to maintain visitor numbers at the Cliffs because of the huge spin-off it generates for the local economy.
Acknowledging people enjoy participating in the Cliff Edge Experience in the visitor centre, he pointed out that no-one should feel forced to use this facility and noted that the right to see the Cliffs free of charge had to remain.
“We will not make the Cliffs of Moher more attractive if we increase our prices. The Cliffs of Moher is a natural amenity created by God. As one person said recently, ‘how to do interpret Cliffs, a cliff is a cliff, is a cliff’.
“The problem for the council is that it is losing money and is now facing the cost of trying to pay back what it built for €31.5m. The visitor centre was built at the height of the Celtic Tiger when the projections were tourism would go up. Instead numbers have gone down and this has resulted in a debt problem for the council.
“Tourists are sending emails to each other on the internet about the new charges. People are already talking about this issue in Germany, France and the United Kingdom,” he said.
He claimed the council had built a “white elephant”  and warned new charges would leave visitors with a sour taste, and could lead to a dramatic reduction in spending for businesses located at the Cliffs.
Lahinch businessman Dick Grant claimed he opposed the decision to allow the council to run the visitor centre from the start because being a tourism provider is not on its list of statutory functions.
He questioned the wisdom of spending €31.5m on a “white elephant” and criticised the council for taking over something which was free and benefiting local villages and creating a new facility where only businesses located in the visitor centre derived any major economic benefit.
When basic facilities were being provided at the Cliffs, Mr Grant recalled that tourists and day trippers stopped off after their visit to have meals and refreshments in places like Lahinch, Doolin, Ennistymon and Kilfenora.
While there was a lot of opposition to a proposed park and ride facility linking villages with the Cliffs, he said a lot of local businesses were against this plan but didn’t support a local action group because they were “afraid of the council”.
He stated locals should not allow the council to make it more difficult for people to walk in off the road and see the Cliffs free of charge.
Expressing concern about the lack of consultation, Lahinch Community Council chairman, Donogh O’Loughlin stressed it was time for people to stand up and be counted when it came to opposing the new charges, which are counterproductive in the midst of a recession.
Another man expressed concern  that the Cliffs had become a tourist commodity such as the Guinness Store in Dublin instead of letting people appreciate the magical experience of nature and described the visitor centre as a terrace facing into Hill 16 in Croke Park.
Mr Cahill said if visitors get a good experience at a tourist attraction, they will return with family and friends and warned that while people may pay new charges once this will deter them from returning again.
There was a lengthy debate about the impact of any new proposed park and ride facility linking towns and villages with the Cliffs. The general consensus from speakers indicated that visitors would not pay twice for a park and ride facility and then an entrance fee to the visitor centre.