Cliffs of Moher 'naming' scheme criticised

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.

The Irish Times

www.buckplanning.ie

Cliff-hanger as car park fees 'missing'

IT'S been involved in planning controversies, rows over parking and busking and has been the site of cliff-edge stunts.

And now the Cliffs of Moher are mired in a fraud investigation.

It emerged last night that gardai are investigating alleged "financial irregularities" because money from car parking fees at the new visitors centre remains unaccounted for.

One person has already resigned since the gardai began investigating over a year ago, and it is understood a "substantial" sum of money is involved.

"The council can confirm that a file on the matter has been handed over to the gardai who are continuing to investigate the matter. The matter was uncovered during our 2005 audit," said Clare County Council‘s Director of Services, Ger Dollard yesterday.

It is believed a sum of up to €15,000 was offered to the council as repayment for the missing monies, but this would not cover the missing sums. The council is also unsure for how long the alleged fraud went on.

It is understood the irregularities were uncovered after it was found there were more vehicles parking at the facility than the council was being paid for. Gardai are continuing their investigation.

Pat Flynn
Irish Independent

Cliffs of Moher - planning or branding

Gordon Deegan writing in The Irish Times tells us its the branding, not the planning of the Cliffs of Moher, that's the important thing ...

A ROW has erupted between two of the agencies involved in the €31.5m Cliffs of Moher visitor centre over registering the Cliffs of Moher brand as a trademark.
Less than four weeks away from Taoiseach Bertie Ahern officially opening the centre, it emerged yesterday that a Shannon Development subsidiary has lodged a formal objection against an application by Clare Co Council to register a Cliffs of Moher brand as a trademark on an EU-wide basis.
The subsidiary, Shannon Castle Banquets and Heritage Ltd (SCBH Ltd) also has an application before the Irish Patents Office from last November to register the Cliffs of Moher.
Shannon Development are former partners of the council in the project and SCBH Ltd is leasing shop space from the council in the new centre. The council's project leader for the Cliffs centre, Ger Dollard, yesterday described Shannon Development's approach as 'extraordinary'.
He said: "The Council had not been advised by Shannon Heritage or Shannon Development of their intention to lodge an objection to our application for a trademark despite meeting at chief executive/county manager level on other issues relating to the project early in December.
"As the council is the public authority for the county and is the body who has invested over €31m in improving facilities and site management at the site, I cannot comprehend how another party could justify opposing our application for this particular trademark.
A Shannon Development spokesman said yesterday: "Shannon Development/Shannon Heritage registered the Cliffs of Moher as a trademark many years ago, to allow use of the name on merchandise sold at the company's commercial outlet at the Cliffs of Moher, and has continued to pay an annual fee to retain ownership and use of the trademark.
"Shannon Development/Shannon Heritage would be happy to share its Cliffs of Moher trademark with Clare Co Council, if this arrangement was acceptable to the Trade Mark Office, but would object to the council having sole ownership of the trade mark which could undermine our long-held commercial position at the Cliffs," he said.