Blanket development ban proposed to protect Great Blasket island

A BLANKET development ban has been proposed for a national treasure off the Kerry coast.

No further accommodation or extra facilities for tourists should be permitted on the Great Blasket island, 3.5 kilometres off the mainland, planners argue.

Dúchas is planning to apply to UNESCO for World Heritage Site status for the island, to further protect its natural and cultural heritage. Significantly, a new county council plan sees the Blasket’s overriding value as a heritage asset of national and international importance and not as a tourist destination in the Dingle peninsula.