Trouble at the Cave of Moher

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Cormac MacConnell - The West's Awake

Trouble at the Cave of Moher

July 26, 2007

By Cormac MacConnell

ON passing by the Cave of Moher a week ago I was evilly delighted that, as I predicted earlier this year, the thing is indeed becoming the white elephant I always claimed it was. There was mayhem up there, and I predict it will get worse before the peak summer season is over. If you come here often you may remember that when Clare County Council and its related bodies announced a scale of sky-high prices to view the fabled Cliffs of Moher earlier this year I advised visitors to boycott the expensive new so-called “Visitor Experience” and view the beautiful Cliffs from other nearby vantage points for free.

I was also critical of the €32 million center, which I dubbed the Cave of Moher, and I asserted that the council was engaged in the business of killing the golden goose attraction which draws a million visitors many of them American to Clare every year. And I gave the same advice to readers of every other publication I write for during that period.

I’m not claiming anything other than a fraction of the responsibility for the consequences of that advice. But there must certainly have been a few Irish Voice readers among the mass of traffic which I saw last week was parking everywhere along the side of the road to avoid at least some of the charges for now viewing what you used be able to see for free.

There were certainly many American accents among the people who were actively avoiding entry to the Cave of Moher. Most were emerging from cars but some were also alighting from mini buses, buses and typical tourist coaches. A remarkable sight, but predictable.

As ye know the euro is very strong against the dollar just now. A euro is now worth about $1.50 actually. And the charges at the cave (when converting from euro to dollar) are about $90 for a coach, nearly $40 for a mini bus and about $12 to park a car! That is surely slaughtering the golden goose!

Add to that the cost of viewing the cliffs from what they are now calling the Atlantic Edge Experience, about $6 a head for the man who has already paid $12 for merely parking! There are lower group and family rates, but these are only fractionally less frightening.

No wonder there is traffic chaos developing on the roadway (narrow) down below the Cave. No wonder that people are voting with their heads to get free alternative viewpoints.

Now the officials in charge have steadfastly defended their pricing structure and have claimed the cave is a mighty success. How, though, does this claim marry with the reality of so many people making great efforts to avoid the expensive Atlantic Edge Experience which, I gather, is even a timed and capacity controlled exercise nowadays?

You can’t, it seems, just come when you want to and stay as long as you like. An incredible new reality in relation to the God-given attraction put there for free.

So now, with illicit busking also forbidden (only licensed buskers in action singing permissible songs!) how are the officials reacting to the chaos below the cave? I’ll tell you how.

I have a statement before me which says, “Clare County Council today announced that it has deployed traffic wardens at the site of the Cliffs of Moher Visitor Experience in an effort to reduce the number of vehicles parking illegally at the world famous tourist attraction . . . the illegal parking of vehicles, including some buses and coaches, is a real cause for concern . . . traffic wardens are being employed the monitor the situation seven days a week.

“We would appeal to all motorists to avail of the onsite parking facilities so as to ensure the safety of visitors to the Cliffs of Moher.”

So now we are to have traffic wardens deployed to drive people into the hungry mouth of the cave under threat of heavy fines, maybe even clamping and worse. The mind boggles.

Very directly the emergence of the illegal parking serves to prove the point I was making before Taoiseach (Prime Minister) Bertie Ahern came down to open the cave last February. If the “experience” offered good value to tourists there would be no illegal parking at all. And no traffic wardens needed either.

Clearly that is not the case. Unless some radical action is taken to make the cave affordable for the ordinary man and woman and their families then numbers could start dropping, especially in a rainy summer like this.

And then some of the newly created jobs at the Cave could be jeopardized. Even the jobs of the traffic wardens. Maybe especially the jobs of the traffic wardens.

My continuing advice is to avoid the place until commonsense kicks in. Take a longer view of the cliffs from further down the coast. Save yourselves a lotta bucks.

And maybe next year things will be better. I surely hope so.

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