*Bunratty Castle & Folk Park.
LOSSES are mounting for tourism sites in Clare under the ownership of the local authority while the County Council is owed €41m.
As per Clare County Council’s interim financial report as far as June 30th of 2025, a combined loss of €1m has been recorded for the Clare Collection which is a portfolio of visitor attractions in the county. The Clare Collection is owned and operated by Clare County Council’s subsidiary companies, it was launched in February of this year.
Bunratty Castle and Folk Park, The Cliffs of Moher Experience, Craggaunowen Castle & Crannóg, Inis Cealtra, Knappogue Castle & Gardens, Loop Head Lighthouse and Vandeleur Walled Gardens and Visitor Experience all form part of the Clare Collection.
Rising losses and a growing number of personnel leaving the tourism section of the local authority were referenced at the September sitting of Clare County Council.
The Clare Echo has previously reported that a series of cutbacks have been introduced on tourism sites operated by the Council and on the exits of Stephen Hanley (General Manager Clare Tourism East) and Eoin Flanagan (Group Head of HR at Clare Tourism).
Welcoming an increase in revenue on commercial rates from 50 percent in 2024 to 63 percent in 2025, Cllr Pat Hayes (FF) also raised concerns on the management of tourism within the Council.
He stated, “there is a loss of €1m to date on the Clare Collection and we are seeing a change in personnel in the last two weeks, the General Manager and the Group Head of HR have left. With tourism in a loss for the first six months, what is the projected loss for the end of the year”.
Director of Finance and Support Services with Clare County Council, Noeleen Fitzgerald stated that the local authority has seen “very positive results in 2023 from the takeover of the Shannon Heritage sites. We did have losses at the sites in 2024 and they (losses) are still there in 2025. We have put initiatives in place to look at everything done in all of our tourism sites to look at delivery, numbers may be up but it can come to the detriment of significant increased costs versus significant increased income”.
Councillors should not be surprised, she said, “it is not something new to members, it was reported at our AFS meeting”.
She revealed that Clare County Council is owed €41m which reflected the amount of Government initiatives delivered by the local authority. “It means we have spent €41m of Government initiatives and we are awaiting it to be refunded to us”.
Cllr Hayes remarked, “€41m seems an incredible amount of money to be owed, how long has that been owed”.
Fitzgerald replied, “it is a rolling figure, until you receive a specific gate in the development, it is continuously rolling, one that there is a lot of resources in relation to managing and making sure claims are gone in on time. We’re not overly concerned, there a small element we’re concerned with but it is less than €1m of the €41m, it is cashflow of Council being used”.
Within the first six months of the year, €40m was spent from the Council’s capital account which included the completion of the Killaloe Bridge. She cautioned, “we’re seeing a significant reduction in income” while noting the Government waiver scheme brought in €6bn.
