The Cliffs of Moher Walking Trail is unlikely to be fully reopened until the 2028 tourist season, according to a report due to be published next week.
The trail, which attracts some 400,000 visitors annually, closed last August when a Sport Ireland audit noted significant safety issues along the 19km route.
A copy of a report by Tobin Consultants, which was tasked by Clare County Council with drawing up a management plan for the attraction, seen by The Irish Times, suggests some sections of the trail will need significant works that will not be completed until the end of 2027.
The 250-page report also recommends that the local authority buy out all 36 landowners who currently own sections of the trail, using compulsory purchase orders if necessary.
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The report says the council “should have full title of the lands by outright purchase”. It acknowledges, however, that any move to purchase the land is likely to be met with stiff opposition from local farmers and landowners.
The Clare branch of the Irish Farmers’ Association, which represents many of the landowners concerned, declined to comment on the findings of the report before a meeting of local members takes place next week.
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Should purchasing the land not prove viable, the report suggests the council should explore a “purchase and lease arrangement” or, failing that, a long-term lease arrangement with the landowners.
“Given that the objective is to have full operational control for the entire trail, it is important that a situation doesn’t arise where a small number of landowners do not agree to either a sale or long-term lease of their lands on the trail, thereby preventing Clare County Council, as the trail management organisation, from having full operational control,” it states.
The trail is managed by the Clare Local Development Company (CLDC) in partnership with the council, tourism body Fáilte Ireland and the Department of Rural and Community Development.
The trail, which is Ireland’s most used walking route by some distance, includes at its midpoint a 1km section at the council-owned Cliffs of Moher Experience.
The report recommends that the council replace CLDC as the overall trail management agency. It suggests that an annual budget of €460,000 would be required to manage the trail successfully, €275,000 of which would come from the council through the Cliffs of Moher Experience, with the remaining €185,000 coming from Fáilte Ireland or the department.
This figure does not include payments to local landowners for the purchase or long-term leasing of their land, which the report says could be done on a basis similar to the National Greenway Scheme, an arrangement unlikely to be accepted by local landowners.
The report refers to a “perceived inequity” felt by local landowners, who are aware of the significant revenue generated for the council by the Cliffs of Moher Experience.
“Landowners are fully cognisant of the entry fees to the Cliffs of Moher Experience. They see Clare County Council collecting significant fees annually from the Cliffs of Moher Experience and, given that the coastal walk is an important part of the overall Cliffs of Moher, they feel that they are not properly compensated for providing access to their lands for the enjoyment of visitors.”
Tickets to the Cliffs of Moher experience cost €8 per adult when booked online, with discounts for students, seniors and families.
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The report is expected to be published in full next week and the council and CLDC declined to comment in advance.
A Belgian medical student last May fell from the 210 metre high cliff when the group she was travelling with tried to walk around others on the trail. In July, a boy who was visiting Ireland with his parents fell to his death from the trail.
