Plans to develop a visitors’ centre at Pol an Ionáin cave have revived fears that increased footfall could damage its unique attraction – a spectacular stalactite
DOOLIN IN north Clare has long been a favourite tourism haunt. Made famous by the trad playing of the Russell brothers, the village never had much to offer beyond its pub sessions, its coastal scenery (now somewhat eroded by one-off housing and holiday home development) and that it is an embarkation point for the Aran Islands.
It does, however, have a stalactite at the Pol an Ionáin cave that, despite disputed claims of its length, is a wonder of nature. Open to the public since 2006 on a park-and-ride basis, the cave is once again at the centre of controversy. Plans to develop a visitors’ centre and car park have revived opposition against further developing the cave beyond its current accessibility.
One of the longest free-hanging stalactites in the world, the Great Stal does not appear to have been dated. Estimates vary between tens of thousands of years to hundreds of thousands of years but it is, in the words of consultant Prof John Gunn of the University of Birmingham, “rare, and in the context of human lifespans, irreplaceable”.
There is some dispute as to its true length: the owners put it at just short of 24 feet (7.3m), cavers say it is 21.5 feet (6.54m), but nobody doubts its uniqueness.
According to the University of Bristol Speleological Society, publishers of Caves of County Clare and South Galway, the stalactite is “believed to be the longest free-hanging stalactite in Europe and one of the longest in the world”.
Currently the cave’s owners, John and Helen Browne, are restricted to operating a park-and-ride system run from Doolin, which is three miles from the site. But they say that after already investing more than €1 million, they need to attract more than the current annual number of 12,000 visitors to make the venture viable and the park-and-ride system restricts this. They are allowed up to 55,000 visitors annually but “visitors arriving directly at the site shall not be permitted entry to the land or site”, according to the conditions of a 2005 planning permission.
They have again applied for planning permission to develop the site outside the cave by building a 2,100sq ft visitors’ centre with a cafe, shop, display area and toilets, and a 32-space car park. In what will be a re-run of previous, contentious planning applications, a coalition of interest groups are objecting to the proposal, including the Speleological Union of Ireland (SUI) – the national association for cavers – the owners of the nearby Ailwee Cave, the Clare branch of An Taisce and the local Pol an Ionáin Action Group.
But it is not a simple case of ecological interests ranged against commercial ones: Helen Browne says the feature deserves more facilities than it has. “It feels very disjointed. It does not feel as important as it is. What we say is that it is the only chance most people will have in their lifetimes to see a stalactite of that size,” she says.
THE BROWNES HAVE employed engineering and hydrology experts and carefully created visitor access to the Great Stal. They are only too aware that it is their investment that is at risk if the stalactite is damaged. An 80ft deep concrete, cylindrical shaft, impressive in itself, was developed as part of the new entrance and a 120-step staircase brings the visitors down to where a 330ft section of cave has been expanded from the crawlspace it once was to a passage that can be walked comfortably wearing a hard hat. No explosives were used in the widening works. Instead, a painstaking plug and feather system was used over the course of a year, involving the drilling of holes and then using an air expander to prise the rock out.
As a structure, the stalactite and cave have protection as geological features under the County Development Plan and they are due to be designated as a Natural Heritage Area by the Geological Survey of Ireland, a division of the Department of Natural Resources. When this happens, it may make any further development at the site more difficult.
The opposition’s concern is centred on the fear that human interference would cause this magnificent feature to come crashing down, scattering some 10 tonnes of calcium carbonate on the cavern floor. According to showcaves.com, a website for cavers, what makes the stalactite more impressive than its length is “that the stalactite is held on by a section of calcite less than 0.3 sq m”.
John Sweeney, conservation officer for the SUI, says that the feature is unique in Europe. “Its age and physical structures are uncertain, as is the question why it is so much larger than any other stalactite in Clare. It is vitally important that it is protected from any risk or threat of damage.” The Brownes say they have taken on this mantle of protector. “We are its guardians for our lifetimes,” says Helen Browne. “It has protections now that it never had.”
These include humidity, temperature and carbon dioxide sensors to monitor the atmosphere. “Ongoing monitoring of the cave since it opened to the public has shown no detrimental changes,” says Prof Gunn, an expert in limestone hydrogeology.
Plus, the cave is now secure. Mud was thrown at the stalactite in the past but now there is no unauthorised or ad hoc entry. They have restricted visitor numbers to a maximum of 20 per tour.
The Brownes have proceeded with determination to realise their dream since 1990, and claim now that surface works can be carried out with sufficient care to prevent any polluting run-offs. They back this with evidence from Prof Gunn who has carried out impact assessments.
Last year, after being turned down by the county council for a similar proposal, they made a pre-planning submission which paved the way for this new round. This is their fifth planning application since they first entered into an agreement to purchase the seven-acre site for £25,000 in 1990. They have also been to the High Court in two separate actions and won an appeal in the Supreme Court against costs awarded against them in one action.
“We will not break even, not in our lifetime. Maybe our children will,” says Helen. “We were in our 30s when we started doing this. We are now in our late 50s.” Along the way, they spent savings from their former restaurant business, sold houses and borrowed.
John Browne, a farmer from the area, is not sure why they have kept going but likens the situation to climbing a mountain. “We got into it and we just decided we had to keep going.”
Prof Gunn, who is also a caver, remains one of the few experts to have ever assessed the site and cave system. He states: “It is apparent that none of the objectors has produced any scientific evidence that the stalactite and the wider cave environment might be at risk from development; rather the responses . . . have been emotive and lacking in substance.”
THE PROPOSED SITE is on the road to Fanore, within view of Ballinalacken Castle. One objection is that the region comprises a vulnerable landscape and that the site is adjacent to a scenic route. Apart from any immediate local impact, Anny Wise of the Clare association of An Taisce has said that any development might compromise an application for the Burren to be classed as a Unesco world heritage site.
But the Brownes point to the nearby council-run Cliffs of Moher visitors’ centre as an example of a commercial development in a vulnerable landscape.
People in rural Ireland will say you can’t eat the landscape and in a harsher economic climate with declining overseas visitor numbers, there is a hardening of attitudes locally to what they regard as unproven environmental concerns holding up development.
“In view of the downturn in tourism in the Doolin area . . . we can very much do with providing every amenity and facility we possibly can to attract more revenue into the area,” was a typical response from locals who replied to a questionnaire circulated by the Brownes.