The ongoing search for a boy missing near the Cliffs of Moher in Co Clare follows two recent tragedies at the site and comes at a time when maintaining the cliff edge is increasingly challenging for authorities.
The land, air and sea search for the boy, who is believed to be 12 years old, is due to continue on Friday. The Irish Coast Guard has now described it as a “recovery operation”.
The search was mounted on Tuesday after the boy became separated from his family, who are understood to be visiting from overseas.
Earlier this month, south Armagh teenager Lochlann Murray died after falling from the world famous cliff.
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In May of this year, a 20-year-old Belgian student lost her life on the same walking trail when she stepped to one side to allow another group of tourists to pass, and lost her footing.
The Cliffs of Moher Walking Trail is owned by 38 local farmers and managed by the Clare Local Development Company after being opened in 2012.
The walk was designed to cater for tens of thousands of people each year, but at its centre, where the trail bisects the Cliffs of Moher Visitors Experience, that number is closer to 500,000.
The 800m section of the trail at the Cliffs of Moher Experience is as safe as any 700ft-high cliff edge could reasonably be. Here, the cliff is cordoned off and protected by 1-metre high slabs of Liscannor stone.
Marshals are in place at different locations along the cliff edge, and if any of the 1.5 million tourists, of whom 1.5 million are expected to visit the site this year, get too close to the edge, they are told to move.
This level of protection is not, and realistically cannot be, put in place in the other sections of the trail. The Cliffs of Moher Walking Trail is approximately 18km of cliff edge, running from Liscannor in the south to Doolin in the north.
Safety and essential maintenance on the trail is an ongoing challenge, with flooding, mudslides and other hazards a common occurrence, especially during the winter months.
Over the past year, Clare County Council has upgraded approximately 2km of the trail to the north and south of the Cliffs of Moher Experience, creating a safer walking route for visitors.
However, many tourists choose to leave this route, with well-worn tracks visible along the very edge of the cliff face.
The management of this walking trail has been a major challenge in recent years.
Clare Local Development Company has responsibility for the trail itself but lacks the resources to manage it in a way appropriate to the amount of people that use it.
The Cliffs of Moher Experience, which is owned by Clare County Council, does an excellent job policing the 800m of the trail that it is responsible for.
The problem occurs when the massive number of visitors to the Cliffs of Moher Experience spill out on to the walking trail, often without realising that they have left the security of a well policed tourist attraction.
This is an issue of which all the stakeholders are keenly aware. Clare Local Development Company, Clare County Council, Fáilte Ireland and the Department of Community and Rural Affairs are working to create a new strategic plan for the walking trail.
Recent events sharpen the focus on this plan.
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