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Submission for Burren Plan

It's interesting that for about three years the Shifting Ground partnership has been trying to get a rural cultural forum off the ground, without much success. It takes a 'hot' issue like this to whip up interest and maybe passion as well!

This is a page to showcase ideas for input into a submssion to the Visitor Management Initiative.

Fiona Woods Submission to Burren Visitor Management Initiative Plan

If the delineation of the Burren is about Visitor Management and is tied up with attracting more visitors, then rather than drawing a line on a map why not ask the people of South Galway and North Clare where the Burren begins or ends? It would be a much longer process that should certainly involve artists, heritage specialists, cultural workers, community development workers.

What would emerge is a 'narrative' border for the Burren which would be far more interesting for a visitor.Suppose there was a publication which documented all of the stories gathered about 'why the Burren begins/ends here?'  People could visit those story rich places, so that the 'edge' of the Burren (a totally fictional concept if ever there was one!) becomes a culturally rich place, just as much as the centre- who is going to visit a line defined on a map?

Secondly, instead of focusing on 'packaging' the Burren through a branding process, what about focusing on content, making the place better for the people who live there and by extension, the tourists who come there.

If people were asked 'what would make this place better for you and for tourists?' (and I stress that for you comes first) then I guess that amongst others, the following things would come up;

Deal with farmer insurance liability at a legislative level so that access to land is less fraught with difficulty.
Create cross country walkways with stiles (compensate farmers for use of their land)
Develop safe cycling options for our children (first) and tourists (second)
Playgrounds for our children; activities for our teenagers (also can be used by tourists).
Create cycling routes that are non-circular (bikes can be picked up and dropped off at various points)
Foster the creation of Farm Shops or Farm Stops, where people can buy drinks, snacks or local produce or even eat lunch.
Make it easier for farmers to diversify into specialised food production
Make it easy for farmers to develop small areas of land as camper-van stopovers, like they have in France; just a field with some electrical connections, a place to empty toilets, access to clean water - you don't even need to provide toilets or showers. Very cheap, but then people buy farm produce, or pay to go pony riding on the farm, or buy a picnic and visit a monument on the farm etc. etc.
Invite local people to become guides and story tellers in their own place

‘Service Providers’ is a term and concept that I dislike. First of all, everyone who lives in this area is affected by tourism but not everyone benefits. ‘Service Providers’ limits the conversation to those who benefit directly from tourism, which puts people on either side of a divide, rather than uniting them.

Tourists in turn come into contact with many more people than the ‘service providers’ and truth be told a huge factor in the attractiveness of Ireland as a tourist destination is the attitude of the people. Friendliness towards tourists (and towards strangers in general) will not survive a society where community breaks down under pressure. (For proof of this, one has only to take a day-trip to the Inis Mor. In winter time, they are the nicest people you could meet, but in the summer many local people are downright rude and with good reason).

Support for local needs is support for tourism.

Fiona Woods

May 2007

If anyone would like to make other suggestions, please send them by e-mail to ennistymonarts@clarelibrary.ie

Suggestions can be included anonymously if people indicate so.