Tag Archives: Burren

A media group from Germany, Spain and the US are in the Burren this week to experience and sample one of Ireland’s best tourism and gastronomy destinations. Included in the visiting group is Frances Folsom who writes for the Boston Globe and Dallas Morning News, which have a combined circulation of over two million. The trip, organised by Fáilte Ireland, in conjunction with Tourism Ireland, will allow the journalists to enjoy the vast selection of seasonal and local produce on the County Clare leg of the Wild Atlantic Way. Welcoming the group to Ireland, John Mulcahy, Fáilte Ireland’s head of Food Tourism, said, “We welcome the opportunity to showcase our island, and indeed The Burren, with its range of food trails, festivals, farmer’s markets. “With the emergence of a distinctive Irish cuisine, our intention is clear; Ireland aims to become one of the world’s hottest new culinary destination and we want to highlight this to our visiting media where they …

THE Burren and Cliffs of Moher Geopark has won a major international award, recognising it as a global leader in sustainable destination development. On Wednesday, the Geopark was revealed as the winner of the Destination Leadership award by National Geographic at their prestigious World Legacy Awards. The Geopark, which is managed by Clare County Council and receives support and funding from the Geological Survey of Ireland and Fáilte Ireland, won the Destination Leadership category for its tourism for conservation project, GeoparkLIFE. The Burren and Cliffs of Moher Geopark was the only European winner at the awards, which honours tourism companies, organisations and destinations regarded as leaders in sustainable tourism best practices. Speaking at the ITB Berlin Convention in Germany, at which the announcement was made, Mary Howard, leas-cathaoirleach of Clare County Council, said the award “is testament to the partnership approach to managing sustainable tourism in the Burren that has been developed over the years by Clare County Council, regional …

The Burren and Cliffs of Moher Geopark has been shortlisted in an international awards scheme hosted by The National Geographic. The Geopark, which was yesterday (Tuesday) designated as a UNESCO site, has been shortlisted in the Destination Leadership category of The National Geographic World Legacy Awards alongside Destination Røros (Norway) and Travel Oregon (United States). The annual scheme honours tourism companies, organisations and destinations regarded as leaders in sustainable tourism best practices. Welcoming the Burren’s inclusion in the National Geographic World Legacy Awards shortlist, Carol Gleeson, manager of the Burren and Cliffs of Moher Geopark said, “The award we are in consideration for is Destination Leadership, a category for destinations demonstrating environmental best practices, protection for cultural and natural heritage, benefits to local people and educating travellers on the principles of sustainable tourism.” Ms Gleeson continued, “The award nomination is testament to the partnership approach to managing sustainable tourism in the Burren that has been developed by regional development agencies …

The Burren and Cliffs of Moher Geopark has been designated as a UNESCO site following a vote at the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) General Conference in Paris today (Tuesday). The Burren and Cliffs of Moher is now one of 120 UNESCO Global Geoparks across the world. The designation means that the Clare County Council managed Geopark, along with Ireland’s two other Geoparks, the Copper Coast Geopark and Marble Arch Caves Global Geopark, is now a UNESCO Global Geopark and is now at the same level as other UNESCO designated sites such as Newgrange and the Giant’s Causeway. Reflecting on the announcement, cathaoirleach of Clare County Council, James Breen said, “As a Geopark, the Burren is very much part of a global community that shares knowledge and expertise on heritage management and sustainable development, leading to well-managed protected landscapes with preserved local heritage. This approach, combined with a good working relationship with communities throughout the Burren has …

More than 100 delegates from across Europe are expected to attend the Burren Winterage School in Corofin over the Bank Holiday weekend. The conference begins on this Thursday and continues to Sunday, October 25. Its focus is on supporting high nature value (HNV) farming in Europe. “More than 100 people are coming from Europe to Corofin for the school. It is a big event for North Clare and Corofin especially. This is our window to the world, in terms of Burren farming. It is an opportunity for the farmers here to show off what they do and to highlight the reasons we have programmes like BurrenLife in the first place,” Dr Brendan Dunford of the BurrenLife programme stated. The Winterage School will hear from farmers from diverse landscapes across Europe and will include a variety of presentations by speakers about how farmers can be supported through better policy, research, funding, innovation, empowerment and networking. “Many of the delegates will stay …

ONE-third of all visitors to the Cliffs of Moher Visitor Experience in the past year stayed at least one night in the county, according to new figures. More than 1,660 people completed online surveys for the attraction in the 12 months from August 2014 to August 2015 and these figures show that 33.2% of visitors indicated they had spent either the night before their Cliffs visit, the night after or both nights, in County Clare. “This indicates a minimum of 536,174 overnights in the county, not taking into account those staying longer than two nights. In 2014, incentive pricing for group tours arriving before 11am or after 4pm was introduced, which further encourages an overnight stay locally,” Ger Dollard, director of services, Clare County Council, stated. The local authority, which owns the centre, reledased the new figures. Mr Dollard stated that while the average spend in the county per visitor to the Cliffs is not known, “by any measure the …

Britain’s Prince Charles and his wife Camilla will visit the Burren during their upcoming visit to the Republic and Northern Ireland later this month. The couple will attend an event at NUI Galway on 19 May, after which Prince Charles will visit the Marine Institute and the Burren. A private dinner with President Michael D Higgins and his wife Sabina will also take place. The Prince and Duchess of Cornwall will travel to Sligo on 20 May, where they will visit the grave of WB Yeats. They will also visit Mullaghmore where the prince’s great-uncle, Lord Mountbatten was killed in an IRA bomb attack in 1979. Prince Charles was in Northern Ireland last year and in 2013. He has only been south of the border on official visits twice – in 1995 and in 2002. Garda Chief Superintendent, John Kerin, revealed earlier this week that he was preparing for the possibility that the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall could be in …

Clare County Council has accepted an invitation from the People’s Republic of China to send a delegation to the country later this year. Since the visit of China’s Vice President Xi Jinping’s to Clare in 2012, the local authority has been exploring the potential of establishing a twinning arrangement that fosters the development of closer industrial, tourism, farming, educational and cultural ties between the county and China. Members of Clare County Council today (Monday) voted in favour of accepting an invitation from the Vice President of Yunnan Province to visit the region in April or May 2015 with a view to building links between the Burren and Cliffs of Moher Geopark and the Stone Forest Geopark (Shilin Geopark), located in the southwest of China.