Clare council not planning to 'wield the option' of compulsory purchase of land for Cliffs of Moher walk

The report said the Cliffs of Moher coastal walk is privately owned by 36 individual landowners and that 'it can be concluded that the roles and responsibilities in relation to the [coastal walk] are unclear at best and have led to confusion'

The latest report recommended that the council take over management and development of the Cliffs of Moher coastal walk, which was forced to close last August after a Sport Ireland audit identified safety risks for walkers and advised the entire trail be closed to facilitate upgrade works. File photo: Press 22

Clare County Council has said it doesn’t intend to “wield the option” of compulsory purchase of land for a Cliffs of Moher coastal walk, as it published its final report on the future of the popular tourist trail.

The local authority has admitted that an earlier draft of the report, which had been leaked, caused “tension” but said this final version offered a sustainable path to develop the tourist route.

The latest report recommended that the council take over management and development of the walking trail, which was forced to close last August after a Sport Ireland audit identified safety risks for walkers and advised the entire trail be closed to facilitate upgrade works.

Given the works needed to make the walk fully safe and usable as a coastal trail in the long term, it may be 2028 before the process has concluded.

Separate to the Cliffs of Moher Experience at the visitors' centre, the coastal walk is a 19.5km trail running from Doolin to Liscannor. The report said that tourists do not differentiate between the Experience and the coastal walk as it is “all part of the visitor attraction at the cliffs”.

The trail had been managed by the Clare Local Development Company, which did not own any of the lands. The report said the trail is privately owned by 36 individual landowners and that “it can be concluded that the roles and responsibilities in relation to the [coastal walk] are unclear at best and have led to confusion”.

It said this had “led to a situation where individual landowners do not feel compelled to maintain the trail to a high standard”.

“Furthermore, given the high footfall on the trail and the resultant degradation, landowners do not have the financial means to properly maintain the trail,” the report said. “The trail is clearly unsafe in places, as highlighted by recent Sport Ireland audits.” 

It lays out options to allow the council to gain full operational control of the lands, such as outright purchase, a hybrid of sale and a lease agreement with all landowners. 

“It is recommended that, if Options 1 to 3 above fail to get secure operational control, Clare County Council should, in consultation with local stakeholders, explore their options for securing control of the lands through compulsory purchase,” it said.

It went on to add that in the event that the landowners don’t wish to give the council control of the trail, the only remaining option would be to close all or part of the trail.

Under the preferred scenario, it said that payments will be made to landowners under a “suitable” rate. As well as that, there will be operational costs associated with operating the trail including maintenance and environmental surveys totalling around €460,000 a year.

What's your view on this issue?

You can tell us here

Siobhán McNulty, the council’s director of service tourism development, said they looked forward to working with the landowners and the local community going forward.

“I would like to thank the landowners for their patience in awaiting the report and I acknowledge the tension resulting from the leaked earlier draft," she said. 

"Much of the focus of the leak was on the use of CPO. It is not the intention of Clare County Council to wield this option over landowners.”