This article is from page 14 of the 2007-04-24 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 14 JPG
CLARE County Council will meet with gardai in the next number of days in a bid to prevent the “very unsafe practice” of coach operators dropping passengers off at the road- side at the Cliffs of Moher visitors’ Cosi
Several coach operators are refus- ing to use the car-park in response to a council parking charge increase from €5 to €60. Instead, they are dropping off and picking up passen- gers at the roadside.
Project Leader Ger Dollard said that
the council is “extremely concerned” at the practice because it puts visitors at risk and causes traffic problems. ‘The traffic implications were also evident, especially on the busy Easter weekend when tailbacks to St Brig- id’s Well were caused by coach op- erators stopping on the road and con- sequently impeding the direct flow of traffic on what is a very heavily trafficked tourist route,’ he added. “Currently between 12 and 30 coaches a day are using the new coach-parking facilities and paying the appropriate facilities charge for the number of passengers onboard
and are very Satisfied with the overall service and facilities on offer.”
In relation to what he called the “small” number of coach operators continuing to drop tourists off at the roadside, Mr Dollard said, ““On some occasions, some of the coach opera- tors continue to drop visitors on the road, even when the facilities charge is paid directly by the visitor group – for example, school groups or as- sociations that have booked directly with the Cliffs of Moher and are pay- ing all charges themselves.”
Director of the centre, Katherine Webster, said that there are “oc-
casional comments on the price of parking but when staff explain that the facilities charge covers the ac- cess to all public facilities on site, as well as a contribution towards visitor management and conservation at the Cliffs of Moher, most visitors con- sider this reasonable.”
She said that Easter weekend was their biggest test to date in terms of managing the number of visitors and all went well.
“Despite record numbers the cen- tre, cliff edge and car park all oper- ated smoothly. Visitors are respond- ing positively to the on-the-ground
staff presence especially the Cliffs of Moher Rangers,” she added.
“The rangers conduct guided tours at off-peak times to encourage visit- ing the cliffs when we are quieter. These are extremely popular espe- cially since the arrival of the puffins on Goat Island on April 1.”
Mr Dollard predicted that the “vast improvement” of facilities would continue to boost visitor numbers, which are up three per cent on last year.
He said it is still “early days” as the peak tourist season would run from May to September.