CAROL GLEESON:I'VE BEEN project manager of Burren Connect, an environmental and visitor management project in Co Clare, since January 2007. I joined because I thought it was an interesting and challenging project. That it was based in the Burren was a big plus – as well as being a place I have always loved, it's near home.
The Burren is an interesting mix of geology, botany and archaeology. It’s also a beautiful landscape full of fascinating details that attracts hundreds of thousands of visitors each year.
Tourism is important for the local economy, and our aim is to balance the protection of landscape with the demands of tourism. A few weeks ago we highlighted the recent fad of building mini-dolmens, where people remove the limestone pavement to create miniature monuments to record their visit. In one location there were hundreds spreading over a large area of ground. We got local schoolchildren involved in replacing the stones and used this event to teach them about the ecology of the limestone pavements, which are protected habitats under EU law, and to promote the concept of Leave No Trace – of not interfering with the very thing people travel to see.
I have a 20-minute drive from my home, outside Miltown Malbay, to our base in the county council office in Ennistymon.
First up each day is a check of my e-mails. One e-mail may change the plans for the whole day. After that I spend the morning answering e-mails, making phone calls, writing reports, attending meetings or perhaps meeting people on site. My days are very varied.
Lunch depends on where I am. If I’m in the office for the day it’ll be in the canteen. I enjoy the banter, and it’s a great way to get to know colleagues. When I am out it might be a cafe or pub.
Afternoons vary. I might have meetings with community-development people or landowners. Or I could be writing a report for our funders, which include Fáilte Ireland, Clare County Council or the National Monuments Service. I spend a lot of time applying for funds.
I also assess sites for their visitor potential, negotiate with landowners on access to the sites or walking routes and get advice from experts on the capacity of these sites to deal with varying amounts of visitors and how to interpret and manage the sites.
I spend my spare time with friends and family, or struggling with my increasingly overgrown garden. I like walking and reading, and I pretend to do more yoga than I actually do. Though who I think I’m fooling is another question.
In conversation with
SANDRA O'CONNELL