Call for more Skellig Michael boats and longer visitor season rejected

An extension of the visitor season and number of boats operating to world heritage site Skellig Michael have been firmly ruled out.

The Star Wars global exposure of the Kerry landmark has led to unprecedented visitor demand, but Office of Public Works minister Kevin Moran said the island remains “an emblem” rather than a destination in itself.

Visitor numbers are to be “robustly controlled”, he advised Kerry county councillor Michael Cahill, who had been lobbying for an extension at either end of the season on behalf of Skellig boatmen.

The current management plan for the fragile monastic site says just over 11,000 visitors per season are sustainable.

However, visitor numbers have exceeded that over the past two years.

The boat operators are seeking a visitor season to Skellig from April 1 to the end of October, instead of the current mid-May to early October. They claim, due to bad weather, the boats did not operate every day.

However, Mr Moran has ruled out any extension.

The OPW has obligations to prepare the island and it cannot allow visitors to land before guides are in situ, he said. It echoed a similar warning by the OPW last year against out-of-season visits.

Mr Moran noted a “traditional” extended season ran between 2011 and 2013, but the weather had turned so bad in one October that boats did not operate and island guides had to be airlifted off Skellig by helicopter.

“While increases in tourism are certainly desirable from a national economic point of view, this has to be managed where sensitive heritage sites such as Skellig are concerned,” the minister said.

While Skellig had a “more visible” presence in recent years, the junior minister stated: “However, this cannot be matched by an ever-expanding increase in the available visitor capacity and, for this reason, the OPW will not be changing the current limits on either boat numbers and passengers and the length of the season.”

He added the monastic island had become “a potent symbol of the unique landscape of the Irish west coast and is a key icon of the Wild Atlantic Way tourist brand”.

Figures from 2016 showed around 14,700 people were ferried to the island, the scene of Star Wars filming in 2014 and 2015.

Under an OPW permit system, 15 boats, mainly from Portmagee and Valentia Island, are allowed operate the 40-minute journey and land 12 passengers on Skellig Michael.