CLARE COUNTY Council's bid to secure millions of euro through naming rights for the Cliffs of Moher visitor centre has been dismissed as a futile exercise and a waste of money.
Councillor Martin Conway (FG) made the charge when the council failed to announce a single benefactor almost two years after it launched the scheme.
In November 2006 the council said it was seeking, primarily in the US, people to part with €1 million to have their names attached to the premium viewing platforms, including O'Brien's Tower, overlooking the Atlantic. It was seeking €500,000 for the platforms and £50,000 for naming rights to seating bollards on the main concourse.
Those interested in having a slab being named after them were being asked to pay up to €10,000 and benches were to be sold for up to €25,000. Naming rights for facilities in the interpretative centre were also to be sold with prices ranging from €200,000.
The council has already named the first aid room, which did not come within the remit of the scheme, after Nicholas Stokes. A US couple, Delia and Kelly Stokes, lost their son at at the cliffs in 2006 and pledged $86,000 towards the provision of the first aid facility.
Yesterday, the Cliffs of Moher website contained no names of benefactors. Mr Conway said: "I understand where the council was coming from with this . . . but there is a need to go back to the drawing board and not be going around with the begging bowl.
"The idea was to get soft money from the US, but there is no such thing as soft money and the whole notion of €25,000 to have your name on a park bench is not something that people have bought into. The days of getting a cheque for that are gone."
Mr Conway wanted to know how much was spent on the scheme. "I don't think enough thought went into it," he said.
The scheme was advertised by the council as Ireland's top visitor attraction and a unique opportunity for corporations, foundations and individuals to play a significant and permanent role in preserving a major piece of Irish heritage, visited by one million people every year. Clare County Council declined to comment yesterday.
