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DoChara's Ireland Blog
Random Writings about Ireland and the Irish
Saturday
October 1 2005
Eating Scenery
Years ago, I hesitate to say how many, I worked for a time in the South Galway/North Clare area in a job that brought me into regular contact with local farmers on their land. I recall pausing on one particularly gorgeous late Spring day to look at a fantastic view over the Burren, blue tinged mountains in the background and a valley below shining in the sun.
"Isn't it just beautiful" I said to the farmer."You can't eat f***ing scenery" he replied gruffly, not even looking up from his work.
Some time ago I wrote about the new Visitor Centre being built at the Cliffs of Moher, and predicted that the already exorbitant costs would rise. And they have. Another €4 million in construction costs is being sought and will almost certainly be granted. That brings the cost to almost €32 million, and it's not over yet.
So yet more money, and public money mind you, is flowing in to what is essentially a big shopping mall in one of the most beautiful, wild and scenic parts of Ireland. I don't know a single visitor to Ireland who came here because they had a burning desire to be ferried from one 'visitor centre' (aka shoppping mall) to another, but increasingly in the West (and elsewhere, but the West seem particularly good at it) that is what happens now.
Already they are paving the way down there for a new era. A first step is to make sure there are no alternative outlets for visitors cash, and so the buskers who have for many years played traditional music outdoors, entertaining visitors climbing to the top of the cliffs, have been told in no uncertain terms to get lost.
So it turns out the farmer was completely wrong. We are eating scenery and it can't end well.
Comments on "Eating Scenery"
Posted by: Becca
2 Nov 2005
We visited Ireland for the first time this last summer and loved it ... but I totally agree with you about the Visitor Center at The Cliffs of Mohrer ... it seemed such a shame that "they" were bulldozing everything in sight except the little path to the Cliffs itself and we loved seeing the women on the side of the path selling jewelry and the guys playing music ... sorry they are being "phased out!" We only went into the center to ask for directions ... long lines at 9 am kept us from looking around too much.
Posted by: Jon
2 Nov 2005
I was also there this summer, and left appalled and shocked at the treatment meted out to the Cliffs of Moher. A huge building site that looks like a quarry? Tower cranes? 9ft fencing? Travelling salesmen (we have a word for them in Britain it begins with P, ends in Y and has a K in the middle) touting their rubbish from the side of the path, a massive coach park and a beautiful rendered concrete interpretive centre?
What happened to natural beauty?
The cliffs were beautiful but shackled and ruined by the travesty around them. I would so distracted by the destruction I couldn't concentrate on the scene and I didn't enjoy the experience at all. Even the puffins weren't the fun little Tammie Nories I remember from Shetland.
If you want to get out of your tour bus and browse imported tat on your way up to spend 2 mins taking photos on your mobile phone, this is for you. For people who care, avoid at all costs. Spare yourselves. It is quite the most horrible thing I have seen in Great Britain.
In fact the cliffs southward is pretty darn ghastly in general. Bungalows everywhere ruining the view. What's wrong with planning law?
Sorry about the rant, but seeing this horror really affected me.
Posted by: Jon
2 Nov 2005
Oh wait, not 'Great Britain' I mean the British Isles.
Sorry Irish folk, sorry...
Posted by: Pat
16 May 2006
Thanks for the warning! I'm headed to Ireland for the first time in my 46 years, I have ten days and I don't want to waste time on spoiled landscapes. We have plenty of those here in Virginia! Is there a place like the Cliffs of Moher that hasn't been ruined by tourists like me?
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