Mullaghmore. Photograph: Crossing The Line Productions.
AN ESTIMATED €16.6m will be spent by the State on a new interpretative centre for the Burren National Park (BNP) in the village of Corofin.
This follows the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage seeking tenders for an Architect or Engineer Led Integrated Design Team to complete the project which was granted planning permission by Clare County Council in January 2024.
The tender states that the project “will offer economic benefits to the area in the form of local employment and tourism and will also lead to regeneration of Corofin through the development of indigenous industries”.
The move comes 25 years after the State was forced to demolish its ill-fated Mullaghmore interpretive centre in the nearby Burren National Park. The controversy over the original visitor centre and a scaled down proposal caused major divisions in the local community.
The row also resulted in fundamental changes to Irish planning laws following a Supreme Court ruling that Government agencies could not be exempt from planning laws.
The demolition of the original centre in 2001 followed a successful battle by the Burren Action Group in opposing the €5.1m Government plan.
The new tender documentation states that the maximum budget for the proposed works (including design fees, capital contributions, fees for statutory approvals and 10% contingency) is expected to be €16.62 million.
The tender documentation states that it is aiming for construction to commence in March 2027 and be complete by March 2029.
The indicative ‘hand-over’ of the building will take place between March 2029 to 2030.
The new scheme involves the demolition of Riverview Buildings at Corofin and in its place, construct the one storey visitor centre.
The invite to tender for the centre comes one decade after the Depaertment’s National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) and Fáilte Ireland established a strategic partnership with the aim of sustainably enhancing and promoting the tourism offering at Ireland’s National Parks.
The brief states that the project should support opportunities for Sustainable Tourism where a frequent, scheduled shuttle bus service will transport visitors from the new Visitor Centre to the National Park.
The brief also states that the Visitor Centre “should provide dynamic interpretation of the Burren’s unique geology, geomorphology and ecology in an appealing and understandable way that highlights both its scientific and aesthetic elements and accommodates people of all ages and abilities”.
It adds that the Visitor Centre “will also provide learning spaces and opportunities for outdoor interpretation. The interpretation design should be developed in line with Best Practice and allow the easy integration of future updates”.
In a submission concerning the scheme that was granted planning permission in January 2024, retired Government Minister, Tony Killeen raised concerns over the site selection and the chaos and undue hardship caused to locals and farmers at the BNP due to the absence of visitor parking there.
Mr Killeen is a resident of nearby Kilnaboy in the Burren and was a prominent supporter of plans to provide visitor facilities at the Burren National Park.
In the submission, Mr Killeen who served as a Clare TD from 1992 to 2011 has told the Council that it appears that the only site selection criterion was that the property was in the possession of the applicant, adding that it is not clear if the site is large enough to accommodate a BNP visitor centre.
He stated, “What a missed opportunity it would be if NPWS were to spend a huge amount of tax-payers’ money to provide a second rate centre in the wrong location of the village”.
Mr Killeen stated that the NPWS is proposing 70 parking spaces at the visitor centre. He said: “It seems strange that NWPS, which attracts a considerable number of cars to the National Park and cause chaos and undue hardship to local road users, residents and farmers, would propose to provide parking where nobody currently goes”.
