A Beautiful, Useless Cave

By Cormac MacConnell

You know the way I’ve been railing against the ¤12 charge proposed for those coming to see what was given free by God to all awed eyes, the ¤60 euro charge proposed for every typical tourist coach, and to related matters surrounding the development of the ¤31.5 million project which I’ve christened the Cave of Moher, such as auditioning and licensing the buskers there.

Well, now there is light at the end of the tunnel at last. The council officially opened what they call the Visitor Center a couple of weeks ago. They brought down the Taoiseach (Prime Minister) Bertie Ahern to do the job.

I was there in the midst of it on your behalf. I have to say that the center itself, as a concept building, is quite splendid and striking.

It is equipped with the very latest touch-screen technology to enable visitors to see films of the Cliffs, and indeed the entire Clare coastline from all angles. There is a good and reasonably priced retail section and two cafes, the staff know how to smile and serve with style, the ambience within what is truly a cave is good.

It is an impressive amenity. That needs to be said.

What also has to be said is that the pricing structure, especially in relation to the parking charges for coaches, dominated the coverage of the opening. The TV clips that evening lingered on the picket of coach drivers who made their point powerfully to the arriving taoiseach and politicians and, above all, to the councilors and their planners.

The coach operators said bluntly on our broadcast network RTE that the costs were too high and would dissuade some of their parties from visiting Clare’s most popular tourist attraction.

I could have predicted it. Actually, I did predict it!

And, even more powerfully, in the couple of weeks since some coach operators have taken matters into their own hands. They are stopping on the main road near the Cliffs and discharging their passengers on to the public road from which, avoiding the centre altogether, they can make their way to the Cliffs! And they are doing that in numbers!

And the coach drivers are saving the ¤60 parking fee for each coach and maintaining a high media protest both locally and nationally. And fair play to them for that too.

And, as I said at the beginning, there are signs that the council is belatedly beginning to see the light. Not before time. I’ll come back to that later.

One of the elements of the new project which I was interested to check out was what kind of view for disabled or elderly tourists is available in inclement weather from the Visitor Center. In the press handouts it was described as “striking.” It is not at all.

You can see the tops of the Cliffs only through the windows in the café area. They look to be the better part of a half-mile away too!

In synopsis, I felt that if you were on an Irish holiday and could not make it to the Cliffs of Moher at all then the Visitor Center, located say in the heart of Dublin or Cork would give you a fine feel of what the Cliffs look like.

But if you are actually in Moher then this cave is like a competing attraction rather than an adjunct to the Cliffs themselves. And whilst your car parking fee of ¤8 gains you entry, you are going to have to pay an additional ¤4 to go out for what the council has christened the Atlantic Ledge Experience. That’s for now.

It will change I think, and hopefully soon. The coach drivers’ campaign has drawn a statement from the council that this first year’s operational experiences allows for an adjustment of the proposed scale of charges down the road.

That’s promising news at any rate. There are 50 jobs attached to the center so it is the equivalent of a small local industry and accordingly precious.

It’s the low season now, wild winds and rain most days around Moher. Business can hardly yet be booming, and the sight of those coaches stopping on the public road and discharging their passengers there in growing numbers should powerfully concentrate the minds now in command of what nobody wants to see becoming a white elephant.

I will keep ye posted.