A €4 MILLION revamp of Fota Wildlife Park in Co Cork was opened by President Mary McAleese yesterday.
Mrs McAleese said she was honoured to open the new entrance complex at Fota which is the single largest change to the facility since it opened in 1983.
Last year Fota defied the recession, recording its highest ever visitor numbers.
A total of 377,000 people visited the park in 2010 – an 8 per cent increase on 2009.
The development at Fota includes an education complex, an animal area with meerkats and mangabey monkeys, and an administration building.
The project, which got under way in December 2009, is expected to further boost numbers at the park.
Chairman of the park Barry Murphy said the development was “a way of saying thanks to the people who visit the park year on year, especially our members who continue to give us great support”.
Mrs McAleese also opened the Cork Lifelong Learning Festival yesterday at Ringmahon House in Mahon, before fulfilling other engagements at Regina Mundi College and, later, at the North Monastery on the occasion of its bicentenary.