Soap Box
Listed below are a range of views and ideas on tourism in Ireland and in the Burren together with responses to the Branding the Burren debate. All opinions expressed are personal views and do not necessarily represent the Shifting Ground position, which is simply a forum for discussion and debate.
Entries are posted in chronological order, with most recent first.
________________________________________________________
Fiona Woods
Failte Ireland has a number of Billboard signs up around the place, claiming that tourism in Ireland is a 'team effort' and implying that we should all wear our best smiles for the tourists.
Failte Ireland recognises that tourism is impacting somewhat negatively on 'landscape' and that landscape is an important factor in attracting tourists to Ireland. To that end they have appointed someone to focus on environmental issues, something that is to be welcomed.
They have yet to acknowledge however, that tourism also impacts negatively on community at times and that while there may be a team effort required, the notion of benefits or a voice for all of the team has yet to be recognised.
My research as a cultural worker in a rural context has focused on the creation of community and the way in which public space is claimed by communities or appropriated by other interests.
The proposed Visitor Management Plan for the Burren (in particular the elements of that plan that deal with Marketing and regulation) have generated a lot of debate (see below).
This, I would argue, is becuase the measures touch upon the governance and regulation of something that is perceived as a public space - the identity of the Burren and also the physical entity that is the Burren. Where this public 'thing' is being regulated only for one sector of the public (in this case tourists and those who service tourists) everyone else who belongs to the 'public' and therefore who have a stake in this public realm feels justifiably aggrieved. Particularly so for those coming from less well-funded and less powerful interests than the Co. Council, Failte Ireland and Shannon Development. These are people who also have 'what's best for the Burren' at heart and possibly believe that they know better what that should be!
_________________________________________________________
"Burren Brand and Signage Plan – your chance to contribute
Brendan McGrath and Associates have been appointed to prepare a signage plan for the Burren and to develop a Burren brand. These are two key components of the Burren Initiative, a Failte Ireland Tourism Development Scheme project being carried out by Clare County Council, in partnership with National Parks and Wildlife Service, Burren Beo and Shannon Development.
The signage plan will address issues such as rationalising existing practice, delineating the Burren, reducing visual clutter, effective directional signage to visitor attractions and facilities and the standardisation of place names. The branding exercise aims to develop a Burren brand that is distinctive and memorable, that will be supported by the local community and will become an effective marketing tool for local service providers.
To help gather views, information and opinions about signage and ‘to scope’ the brand, three workshop meetings will be held:
Corrofin: Tuesday, 15th May, 8.30 p.m., upstairs meeting room, Heritage Centre.
Ennis: Wednesday, 16th May, 2.30 p.m., 1st floor meeting room, Museum Building, Temple Gate.
Ballyvaghan: Thursday, 17th May, 8.30 p.m. Village Hall.
All are welcome to attend or to send their views to nbmcgrath@eircom.net before the end of May."
(Emphasis added by Fiona Woods) _______________________________________________
Hello all at Brendan McGrath and other recipients,
As an artist and cultural worker, and Regional Arts Coordinator for North Clare who specialises in the area of public art in rural contexts, I feel great dismay at the announcement of a plan to prepare signage and develop a Burren brand, by a company who are, as far as I know, not grounded in the local culture. I am a blow-in myself, so this is not about 'no outsiders'. Organisations like Burrenbeo and Burren Life undertake work that has a lot to do with championing local authenticity; the 'packaging' of the Burren in a marketing-driven way seems out of step with that ethos.
Who decides what is visual clutter? I am personally carrying out a project on Folk Typography; I would rather have a hand-painted No Mast sign, or Kilfenora gun club sign, than some generic, designed sign-type everywhere.
It's one of the great problems with tourism in Ireland; there is a packaging of a place for outsiders, rather than for those who live there. One of the things I hate about Tidy Towns is that they remove ramshackle-ness and create something smooth, shiny and acceptable to the market. I am horrified to think that this is about to happen to the Burren; this is a cultural issue and it needs to be debated (I can't make it to any of those three workshops unfortunately). It's the 'giveaway' culture of Failte Ireland, or the 'regulated vernacular' of planning authorities - the branding/homogenising process tends to remove character, quirkiness, individualism and replace it with something that is essentially about selling, about profit, which I consider to be a culturally 'phony' process. Where is the reference to local culture in the drive towards "rationalisation"?
How is the decision to alter the visual culture of the Burren being arrived at? Who are Brendan McGrath and what is their record in this regard?
I offer this opinion towards a debate about this process; hopefully there is some room for that!
best
Fiona Woods
Dear Fiona,
Thanks for your perspective. I'm sorry you can't make the workshops. If you did get the chance to elaborate your viewpoint in a written submission, before the end of May, it would be appreciated. As to who we are, I am a town planner, living in Corrofin, who has worked on several aspects of physical development in North Clare. Sinead Monahan is a landscape architect from Quin with a special interest in, and experience of ,working on development projects with local groups. Daragh O'Toole is head of design at PCC, a design company that works primarily with not-for-profit organisations and has developed brands for the Heritage Council, Temple Bar, The Equality Authority and many other regional and national bodies.
Regards,
Brendan McGrath
Hello Brendan (and other recipients),
Thanks for your e-mail. Your credentials and those of your associates are, of course, not in question.
I will indeed make a written submission as you suggest. More than this, I will open a page and a discussion forum on the Shifting Ground website to explore some of the ideas and issues that I see emerging (www.shiftingground.net/rural_culture.htm ).
A vision is about to be imposed on a place. The question is 'whose vision, and for what purpose'. We probably find ourselves on different sides of an ideological divide in this regard. I don't believe that branding is an appropriate way to deal with a place. The term itself derives from the practice of marking animals for ownership and has become associated with marketing; marketing is a practice that frames objects, places, ideas in terms of the market, so whatever is branded becomes a commodity, available for sale.
While that may suit the business oriented community, there are other users of the Burren, other inhabitants, other interests. Culture is always seen as second to business; I believe that this is putting the cart before the horse.
I also have great difficulty with the idea of 'rationalisation'. That is a term that is used to mean everything from scaling down factories to increasing regulation and it is a very top-down term. I don't like all of the signage in the Burren, in particular the Estate Agent signs, but I cannot accept a top-down definition of visual clutter any more than I can accept the idea of 'official culture'.
I don't think that three local workshops is adequate to tease out the complexities of this debate; I will try to open up an e-mail conversation on this and with the permission of participants, will post the inputs onto the web page as outlined above. On that note, if any recipient would like to forward this developing conversation to potentially interested parties, please do so.
Sincerely
Fiona Woods
________________________________________________________
This virtual space proffers such an interesting exchange that can only deepen the discourse from other meetings in ballyvaughan, etc.
and the subject of signage really deserves some attention; as an act of communication, a devise to welcome the stranger and aid to navigate public space.
CityArts
_________________________________________________________
Hi All,
Firstly its great to have a public forum to raise our concerns about guardianship of the Burren. I had to call to 52 homes in Bellharbour to get myself elected to the Consultative Committee on the Heritage of the Burren in 2000 to try to keep track of the externally imposed changes proposed for the Burren so now I am delighted that there are some public meetings to debate the notion of branding the Burren.
I also know Burrenbeo have done a fantastic job highlighting and defending Burren life. Without knowing exactly what is being recommended it is difficult to fully engage but I would like to give an example of the "starwars set" experience that the cliffs of mohar have been turned into -( I guess one could be very broad minded and say we have our own landing zone for aliens). However "the experience", that embodied response that comes through the tone of our muscles when we sense a place has been reduced to reading signs..following setdown zones, remaining behind walls, confined. Where is the "experience" of the Cliffs now?
My concern would be that all this goodwill of marketing and branding will maintain a healthy distance from source and a dignity respecting the "experience" of the burren in its many forms. This makes me wonder what aspects of the Burren identity do we brand? Are there even any collective features that can be marketable without interfering in the culture and landscape from a topdown marketing perspective? Looking forward to getting to these discussions to explore these concepts.
Best wishes to all,
Maria Kerin
________________________________________________________
It would appear that marketing expertise is now one of the most important talents in the shaping of 'modern' societies. I'm fascinated by the issues at stake here, one of them being about ownership of identity and ways of seeing. I believe that these things move in such small increments that people on the ground don't appreciate the magnitude of what's happening. And those that are instigating the changes will respond with "calm down - its just a few signs".
So what is 'Burren'? Have they asked anyone? Perhaps before it's too late there needs to be a mobilising of alternate visions, a 21st Century version of those mass observation projects undertaken by people like Westropp 100 years or so ago. A collecting of the oral histories to counteract the power of a (probably badly thought out and computer generated) new logo.
Do you know any independent film makers? I think there's an interesting theme here for some kind of TV documentary. The Branding the Burren thing could be the central 'news' tag for a discussion on the more wide ranging idea of Theme Park Ireland. Would contacting film makers be a possible way of getting more people into the discussion? Maybe the artistic community should be invited to respond creatively...
This is just my initial response to it. Once I've seen or heard their proposals things will probably crystalise. But at the heart of it is the idea of progress - does it have to be this linear route from authenticity to crapness?
Tim Bradford
___________________________________________________________
Dear Friends,
I regret that I cannot attend these meetings, although I would like to ( I am in Shropshire) since my association with the Burren goes back to 1980 and includes many visits with parties of international graduate students. I was involved as a supporter of the Mullach more battle.
I am a little puzzled by some of the negative reception that this idea has so far received. Several people seemed to have pre-judged, both the objectives of the organisers and the outcome of the discussions. As I understand it the objective is to establish a dialogue between a range of stakeholders and others by developing a participatory process during which a range of views and the exchange of other relevant experience, will emerge.
I suggest that it would be useful to examine some relevant experience from elsewhere. I think that the National Trust and the Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty ( AONBs) in the UK both have some useful lessons to share.
I agree that "branding" might not be the best expression for what is needed. This might be more appropriate in the context of the development of local products associated with, say, farmers markets or local shops and the wish to publicise characteristic species ( both flora and fauna).
In my view, clear and recognisable signage is desirable as part of the development of the "sense of place" and feeling of ownership that many people need to have of the area in which they live and work. It is also very helpful to visitors who are now a vital players in and contributors to, the development of more sustainable rural livelihoods and society.
I wish you all success in these discussions and hope to catch up later in the year when I hope to visit.
Yours sincerely,
David Gibbon
_________________________________________________________
Hi all
To further emphasise the necessity to attend and participate in th(e public) meeting I would really ask anyone who can to please attend. I was at the Ennis meeting - there were 5 people there!!
There were really significant issues being debated and decisions are going to be made that will change the character of the burren if this process develops in the manner of Failte Ireland/Shannon Development "asethetic" (see the bilboard in bellharbour blocking the view of the moneen mountains with an image of mulloughmore and text wellcoming the reader to the shannon region!!)
Is this a prelude of things to come? If you care - go to the meeting and change the system from within. Thanks for taking the time to read this.
Best wishes, Maria Kerin