Tag Archives: Cliffs of Moher

UPGRADES are being sought for a heavily trafficked section of the Wild Atlantic Way running through North Clare to the Cliffs of Moher. The call came at the meeting of the West Clare Municipal District when Councillor Joe Killeen said local people and visitors alike would benefit from improvements to the route from Ballyvaughan, through Fanore and Doolin. “There are around 1.5 million tourists using this route every year going to the Cliffs of Moher and traffic is often tail-to-tail,” he said. “I was on the road recently when four cars pulled over to look at a fishing competition. Until they returned to their cars, nobody could pass. This area is the jewel in the crown of the Wild Atlantic Way and there are issues with the road surface and alignment, as well as a lack of areas to pull in.” The Corofin native noted that the Tánaiste, Leo Varadkar had recently visited Ballyvaughan and that action needed to be …

A 20-year strategy to guide future upgrades at the Cliffs of Moher Visitor Experience is currently in development, with all works to be dependent on the availability of funding. Clare County Council, supported by Fáilte Ireland, is currently undertaking the Cliffs of Moher Strategy 2040 that will set out the future plans, including an architectural masterplan for the site and economic delivery plans for the wider hinterland of County Clare. UK-based tourism lead multi-disciplinary consultants Haley Sharpe Design are midway through the project schedule, which is due for completion in quarter one, 2021.  A separate contract running concurrently with the strategy has been signed with internationally renowned Dublin-based architects Henchion Reuter, with a value of €1.93m over a number of years, to design key infrastructural requirements. This contract will dovetail with the strategy to inform the wish list of developments that could be delivered over the long term.   The package of works for design include required upgrades to the waste water …

CLARE County Council has approved the commencement of work on the complete refurbishment of all toilet facilities within the Cliffs of Moher Visitor Centre. Clare contractor Jada Projects Ltd has been appointed to complete the project. Clare County Council signed the contract, which is valued at €208,444 ex VAT, earlier this month. The improvements include a full refit of the toilets on the ground floor and first floor. The works will see the unisex model that was in place revert to separate male and female toilet facilities. It is expected that the works will be completed in July. Mayor of Clare, Councillor Clare Colleran Molloy, said: “The toilet refurbishment will be a welcome improvement to facilities at the world-class visitor attraction. With 1.6m visitors to the cliffs in 2019, it is crucially important to maintain high standards of accessibility, convenience and hygiene in Visitor Centre facilities – perhaps now more than ever, given the public health requirements to combat Covid-19.” …

THERE is huge demand to visit the Cliffs of Moher, which actually exceeds the capacity of the existing infrastructure, Clare County Council members were told at a special briefing on Monday. Celebrity businessman and broadcaster Bobby Kerr is part of the Cliffs of Moher board, as is Geraldine Enright, and the two spoke to the membership. “We believe the Cliffs of Moher is an absolute success story; locally, nationally and internationally,” said Mr Kerr. He said that back in 2007, there were 927,000 visitors to the attraction but by 2019, the figure had gone up to 1.6 million. However, Mr Kerr said that the increase “brings its own challenges”. He said the attraction needs to be sustainable, both environmentally and economically, and that it is still getting busier. “The graph is going uphill and more and more people will want to visit the Cliffs of Moher,” he added. He said that Ennis hotelier Allen Flynn recently visited the Galápagos Islands …

CONTRACTS were signed on Friday by Clare County Council with Haley Sharpe Consultants to prepare a new Cliffs of Moher Strategy 2040. The consultants comprise a multi-disciplinary team who will devise the Strategy that will inform future developments at the Cliffs of Moher Visitor Experience. This is a joint initiative between Clare County Council and Fáilte Ireland. Deputy Mayor of Clare, councillor Clare Colleran Molloy, stated that the challenge of this Strategy, and its component master plan, is to deliver a world class visitor experience utilising best practice visitor management and environmental management practices to ensure the future of the natural asset is safeguarded. Clare county council Chief Executive Pat Dowling said that the opportunity is there to provide adequate facilities onsite while securing a continued contribution to the wider economy, to ensure commercial and environmental sustainability into the future, maintaining market positioning. The project value is €400,000 and will be completed over 15 months with key deliverables at scheduled …

A body was recovered from the base of the Cliffs of Moher on Wednesday afternoon. It is believed that the man is in his 20s and from Galway. The recovery was made during a search as a person had been seen falling from the Cliffs of Moher on Tuesday. Among those involved in the search on Tuesday and Wednesday were the Doolin based Irish Coastguard, Shannon based Rescue 115 and Gardai. The man was removed from the cliffs and brought to the Irish Coastguard building in Doolin before being removed to University Hospital Limerick for a post-mortem and identification.    

  CLARE is bracing itself for the arrival of Storm Lorenzo on Thursday with Met Éireann issuing a status orange weather warning for the county. Winds up up to 130km/h, and even higher in coastal regions, are expected with storm surges producing coastal flooding and damage. The orange weather warning, for Clare, Galway, Limerick, Cork, Mayo and Kerry comes into effect from 6pm Thursday until Friday at 3am. There is also a status yellow rainfall alert for the entire country from 9am on Thursday until 6am on Friday. According to Met Éireann south-westerly winds veering westerly will reach mean speeds 65 to 80km/h with gusts generally of 100 to 130km/h, higher in coastal regions. Storm surges will produce coastal flooding and damage. The main impacts will include disruptive winds, falling trees and flooding. The public are advised not to plan any unnecessary journeys for the duration of the status Orange warning. Clare County Council is urging motorists to drive with caution …

A body has been recovered from the base of the Cliffs of Moher, during a search for a missing woman. A search was launched late on Saturday night for a missing tourist believed to be in her 40s. The body was recovered on Sunday afternoon and was taken to University Hospital Limerick for formal identification and post mortem.