It is “very unlikely” that the southern half of the Cliffs of Moher Trail will be reopened for the 2025 tourism season, and there is no guarantee that the northern section will reopen.
That is according to Clare Local Development Company (CLDC), the organisation that has managed the trail and coordinated all trail maintenance since it was opened in 2013.
While local community leaders, the IFA and some trail landowners have stressed that it is critical to open all of the trail this year, CEO of CLDC, Doirin Graham says the section of the trail from Hags Head to the Cliffs of Moher Experience requires “medium to long terms works”.
“What we would hope could happen is that the northern section of the trail from the visitor’s centre to Doolin could be open for this year,” Ms Graham told The Clare Champion.
“There are some works to be done, and we need the agreement of everybody to do them, but if that could be done in the next couple of months it would allow this section of the trail to be open. And that would be a huge improvement on where we are now.
“It is very unlikely that the southern section of the trail will be open this year. That needs medium to long term work. What is most feasible but not guaranteed is the northern section. We need to get agreement from a few people to make that happen.
“The Tobin Report is not required to open the northern section but it would help if the landowners could see what the future looks like and where things are going. That is why the Tobin Report is so important, it opens a window to the future.”
The Tobin Report was commissioned by CLDC, Clare County Council, Fáilte Ireland and the Department of Rural and Community Development to create a management plan for the walk and address issues such as safety, capacity issues, habitat degradation and poor trail conditions.
A first draft of the report is expected to be sent to all four agencies later this month. These agencies will each then feed back into the report before a finished document is published and made public,
It is not yet clear when an actionable report will be published.
CLDC have conceded that the current management system for the walking trail is not fit for purpose and that another agency, with greater funding capacity, will most likely have to take over their management of the trail.
“We are very, very close to getting the Tobin Report. We are expecting a draft by the end of January. Hopefully in the report there will be a recommendation about a future management structure for the trail. It is very likely that that will be Clare County Council, in consultation with others,” said Ms Graham.
“This is not something that we would see ourselves being able to take on in the future, unless we had a lot more funding. It takes a lot of people and money to be able to manage a trail like the cliffs trail, particularly with all the risks that are there.
“We are open to looking at a new management structure for it, but the landowners need to buy into that as well. They are the people who own the land, they give permissive access, and they need to be happy to go with the new management structure.
“We may be part of that management structure, but that needs to be decided and discussed. The walks scheme as a funding vehicle for the trail is very likely going to come to an end. When that end will be, I don’t know. The funding is very small and inadequate for the needs. We need a new solution.”
While Ms Graham insists the CLDC still has the appetite to contribute to the management of the Cliffs of Moher Walking Trail, unless major funding becomes available to them, she admits that the organisation does not have the means.
“There is an appetite from CLDC to play a role in the future, but whether that is the primary role, I don’t know. Unless we got considerably more funding, it is a difficult situation to be in,” she said.
“To have this huge responsibility when you don’t have the funding to go with that and allow you to manage it responsibly.
“Those people who have businesses associated with the trail are in a hugely difficult situation. We want to resolve this very quickly so that they can get on with making a living from the trail. We were always motivated by the potential that this trail has for the rural development of all of North Clare, and the communities, small businesses and landowners that could benefit from that.
“It is very clear to us that the management of the trail requires a lot more resources than we have under the walks scheme. So there needs to be a bigger organisation and Clare County Council are the obvious vehicle for that.”
The Cliffs of Moher Walking Trail is part of the larger Burren Trail and as such is funded under National Walks Scheme.
This scheme is designed for trails with dozens of people walking on it each day, rather than the thousands which use the Cliffs of Moher Walking Trail.
“This trail is, by far and away, the most highly used in the country. A few years ago the Department of Rural and Community Development produced a review of the walks scheme and one of the findings of that scheme was that the walks scheme was not fit for the Cliffs of Moher Trail,” said Ms Graham.
“It is a scheme that is designed for walks that have a much lower level of usage and have much less management requirements.
“We have a very busy trail and very limited resources, under the walks scheme, to manage that trail. That is where Clare County Council and the visitors centre [the Cliffs of Moher Visitors Experience] comes in. Over the years they have been doing works to upgrade the trail, especially close to the visitors’ centre, that would allow larger number to use parts of the trail more safely.”
Since September, Clare County Council has met privately with local landowners and members of the IFA. While some landowners have expressed a wish that CLDC be part of future negotiations, Ms Graham says that the exclusion of CLDC from these talks is not an issue for the organisation.
“There is no issue there, we were aware of the meetings and the county council and landowners would have informed us of the meetings and how they have gone,” she said.
“We are supporting both parties to reach an agreement. We are supporting a future agreement but we are not a negotiating party. It is a big project but it is well within the scope and the ability of the local authority [Clare County Council]. It is very likely that that is the future map for the trail. That is not to say that we won’t be a supporting partner, we will give any help that we can.”
The walking trail presents local landowners, businesses and all local authorities with a unique opportunity to reimagine tourism in North Clare.
The potential of the trail to attract thousands of “slow” tourists to the area, and greatly increase the value of each tourist, could make it more important financially to the local community than the Cliffs of Moher themselves.
“The possibilities for this trail are massive. We see the huge potential for small businesses and North Clare in general. There is a potential to slow down tourism, create overnight stays rather than the day trippers,” she said.
“The visitors centre operates on a day-tripper model, where people come in, see the cliffs and leave. But the county council have a duel function and they want to promote slower tourism as well.
“This hasn’t been fully tapped, it hasn’t been fully realised. There is so much more that could be tapped from the trail and I would certainly like to see that happen in the future.”
Andrew Hamilton is a journalist, investigative reporter and podcaster who has been working in the media in Ireland for the past 20 years. His areas of special interest include the environment, mental health and politics.