The three people who lost their lives while walking on the Cliffs of Moher Trail last year did not come from the Cliffs of Moher Experience.
That is according to Siobhan McNulty, Clare County Council’s Director of Service for Tourism Development.
Clare County Council has also confirmed that the border between the world famous tourist attraction and walking trail will be policed by staff during the 2025 tourist season.
The risk of tourists moving from the Cliffs of Moher centre to the high difficulty walking trail without realising it, has been highlighted as one of the main safety risks on the trail.
This risk and issues about the use of proper signage were repeatedly highlighted in the Sport Ireland safety audit which effectively closed the walking trail last August.
Clare County Council is responsible for the Cliffs of Moher Experience, while the Cliffs of Moher Trail is managed by Clare Local Development Company (CLDC) in cooperation with Clare County Council, Fáilte Ireland and the Department of Community and Rural Development, and is owned by 37 local landowners.
“The fatalities, tragic and all as they are, and nobody ever wants to see that happening, but the fatalities didn’t occur from visitors leaving the Cliffs of Moher Experience and entering the trail. They penetrated the walk from different locations,” said Ms McNulty.
“That is not to say that we [Clare County Council/Cliffs of Moher Experience] have nothing to do with this, that is not the purpose of saying that, but it is just to be clear.
“There are systems in place within the Cliffs of Moher visitor site, there is a clear delineating when you leave the Cliffs of Moher Experience and enter the trail, and again when you leave the one kilometre area on either side of the site where the walk has been upgraded.
“There is a delineation which says that you are now entering this high difficulty trail and you need your boots, your bag and your water.
“This is not to attribute blame, but just to speak about our duty of care. Our duty of care is always to the customer on site. We carefully manage that. While personnel [from the Cliffs of Moher Experience] assisted in those tragedies, they didn’t stem from people who left the site.
“This is not about saying that we are wonderful or washing our hands of this, but it wasn’t people who left the site.”
Ms McNulty also confirmed that the border between the Cliffs of Moher Experience and the Cliffs of Moher Walking Trail will be policed by staff this year.
This policing will be undertaken by staff from the Cliffs of Moher Visitors’ Experience in conjunction with CLDC.
“For the summer of 2025, because the walk is closed, and should the walk now be opened, these areas will be manned. The access point will be manned so we can advise people that this is not where they want to go,” she said.
“Ultimately people will make their own decision but we want to better advise the public so that people are not meandering onto this pathway, where we know that there are challenges and they need to be prepared.
“We are working with CLDC to police the closed section of the walk for 2025 and that is equally going to be challenging.”
The Cliffs of Moher Trail is classified as a grade 5 walking route by Sport Ireland, the most challenging designation possible and on a par with Carrauntoohil in Kerry.
In May of last year, a 20-year-old Belgian medical student fell from the 700-foot-high cliff when the group she was travelling with tried to walk around another group of walkers.
On July 5, 17-year-old Armagh student Lochlann Murray lost his life after falling from the cliff edge, while in late July, a young boy who was travelling to Ireland with his parents, also fell to his death from the trail.
The Sport Ireland audit of the trail found 49 separate issues about signage, 27 of which were deemed to be safety issues.
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.