*Loop Head Lighthouse is one of the tourist attractions within the Council’s tourism portfolio.
TOURISM is to have its own dedicated Strategic Policy Committee (SPC) set up within Clare County Council.
Chief Executive of the Council, Pat Dowling confirmed to The Clare Echo that this new SPC will be established following the local elections in June.
Currently, there are four SPCs within Clare’s local authority structure – Economic Development, Physical Development, Rural Development and Social Development.
It is the task of the SPCs as committees of the council, to advise and assist the council in the formulation, development and review of policy. They have no remit in relation to routine operational matters regarding the delivery of services. The SPC system is intended to give councillors and relevant sectoral interests an opportunity for full involvement in the policy making process from the early stages.
At the beginning of January, Dowling’s reshuffle of the Council’s senior management came into effect and this included the creation of a Tourism Development directorate.
Speaking to The Clare Echo, Dowling confirmed his plans that this additional directorate will have its own SPC. “We have received approval from Government to add an additional department in the Council, namely tourism, that required a directorate and Director of Services to be appointed, I cannot do that without approval from my parent department, we have received that and I am grateful for it, it has been put in place. I’ve always wanted to make sure that our management structure at an executive level is consistent with that of the elected members and the political structure within the Council, it is my ambition to operate within the guidelines of Government but my ambition is after the local election in June we will be adding a dedicated SPC for tourism”.
Members of the Rural Development SPC which tourism currently falls under within the SPC structure had felt the matter needed clarity.
Anne Haugh who moved from Director of Social Development to Rural Development as part of this reshuffle told the February meeting of the Rural Development SPC that their next sitting would have a tourism focus and that is was likely to rotate between both subject areas until a new structure was agreed.
Cathaoirleach of the Rural Development SPC, Cllr Pat Hayes (FF) stated, “we’ve held tourism and rural together”.
Cllr Cillian Murphy (FF) a tourism consultant by profession stressed the need for rural items not to be neglected at the expense of tourism. “There is a really relevant thing that needs to be discussed, if we’re going to be focusing every second meeting on rural and tourism then rural gets put on the back burner, given its importance and strategic importance to me it is almost deserving of its own SPC”.
Director Haugh told the meeting, “this could well be the outcome from July”. Cllr Hayes responded, “it changed prior to when Jason and Leonard changed,” referencing Jason Murphy becoming Director of Social Development and Leonard Cleary Director of Tourism Development in the management reshuffle.
Emphasising his views, Cllr Murphy said, “there is merit in a letter to go to the Chief Executive that it is not appropriate, they are two important things and we are sharing them. I don’t want to be sitting down in a meeting in September fingers crossed that I’m still here and that this hasn’t been sorted, it should be flagged now before election time”.
Haugh advised, “One would expect new structures will be reflected in the new SPC after the local elections. I understand what you are saying and we should be putting the groundwork in”.
Ennis native, Cllr Mary Howard (FG) noted, “rural is so broad anyway” when adding her support to Murphy’s request.
Denis Tuohy of the Clare IFA who is the agriculture and farming representative on the SPC countered the proposal from the West Clare representative. “For me being on here from a farming background the rural is important but so is the tourism, farm diversification is a big opportunity for farmers, having them on the same table I find it as a positive”. Cllr Murphy replied, “I’d imagine you have a farming representative on the other SPC”.
Moves are afoot on new structures, Cllr Hayes told the meeting. “The issue is creating an extra SPC, we’ve climate change and biodiversity as an agenda item for every meeting that could and should demand its own SPC, it will be a challenge”. He believed Director Haugh would be able to make the argument for a dedicated Tourism SPC but maintained this discussion needed to be resolved by July when members are appointed to the various SPCs.
