This article is from page 16 of the 2011-11-01 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 16 JPG
GIOVANNI Trapattoni proved to be a man of his word when finally fulfilling his commitment to throw his weight behind the Cliffs of Moher’s campaign to be designated as one of the New 7 Wonders of the World on Friday.
The Irish soccer manager and his assistant – World Cup-winning hero from 1982, Marco Tardelli – visited the Cliffs on Friday, nearly four months after he postponed a visit that was pencilled in as part of the FAI annual general meeting in Clare, because of industrial action being undertaken by SIPTU workers at the tourist resort.
“I have heard a lot about the Cliffs of Moher,” he said.
“I am very familiar with long campaigns and hope that November can be a month when Ireland achieves success in both the Euro 2012 playoffs and the new 7 Wonders of Nature campaign.
“It is fantastic. I was also in America [at the] Grand Canyon. It [Grand Canyon] is different but this is very, very beautiful. I think these cliffs are very, very spectacular,” he said.
The Cliffs of Moher was shortlisted in the New 7 Wonders of Nature competition in July 2009, along with 27 other sites, from more than 440 participants representing 220 countries. Among the other shortlisted sites are the Amazon Rainforest (South America), Table Mountain (South Africa), Black Forest (Germany), Vesuvius (Italy), The Great Barrier Reef (Australia) and The Grand Canyon (USA).
The official New 7 Wonders of Nature list, which is subject to a worldwide poll, will be declared on November 11, 2011 – the same day that Clareman Michael D Higgins is inaugurated as Ireland’s ninth president.