THE Minister for Arts and Culture, Mr Higgins, has asked the Office of Public Works to prepare a plan for the Burren National Park, Co Clare. This plan, which was recommended by consultants, will be presented to the High. Court for permission to proceed with a planning application for facilities at Gortlecka, the Minister said.
He hoped the proposal, which involved very small-scale facilities at Gortlecka, would be accepted as a compromise in the dispute over interpretative, facilities. His officials were considering the possibility of facilities at Corofin Kilfenora and Ballyvaughan.
The consultants had placed great stress on the principle of an appropriate scale of facilities. They said major developments should take place in centres of, population but modest provision should be made for access at various points.
The Fianna Fail spokeswoman on arts and culture, Ms Sile de Valera, said there was major concern in north Clare that visitor facilities and an interpretative programme be put in place which would be commensurate with the facilities of the Burren National Park.
She called for full consultation with local farmers. Access to the Burren was difficult, and buses around the national park caused serious problems. Existing water facilities were inadequate, she said, and asked that EU funds be sought to improve them.
Ms Mairin Quill, the PD spokeswoman on the environment, said taxpayers were scandalised that £3.5 million had been wasted on the Mullaghmore interpretative centre. "This money could have been put to constructive use if proper consultation bad taken place from the beginning. That did not happen, and the net effect is that this close-knit local community is now riven with dissension."
She supported the development of a "necklace" of smaller centres based in the villages around Mullaghmore, with no building on the face of mountain. It was too delicate to sustain any building, or the level of traffic that such building would attract.
Mr Tony Killeen (FE, Clare) said that farmers in the area believed their rights were not appreciated in the developments being proposed.
Dr Moosajee Bhamjee (Lab, Clare) urged that narrow roads be retained, as these were an essential part of the area.
Mr Trevor Sargent (Green Party, Dublin North) asked that the sewerage facilities installed in the Mullaghmore project be dismantled so that they could not be used if a future government had a change of mind and decided to build the centre.
Mr Liam Lawlor (FE, Dublin West) said the Minister should have left it to the OPW and Clare County Council. As visitor numbers grew he would find the facilities now proposed inadequate and would have to expand them.