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Displaying items by tag: Visitor Experience

Irish Lights has welcomed the announcement of the approval by An Bord Pleánala for the construction of an enhanced visitor experience facilities at Loop Head Lighthouse in Co. Clare.

"We are delighted that approval has been granted for the enhancement of visitor facilities at Loop Head Lighthouse and we congratulate our Great Lighthouses of Ireland partner, Clare County Council," said Yvonne Shields O’ Connor, CEO of Irish Lights.

"This project aligns perfectly with our mission to promote the rich maritime and lighthouse heritage of Ireland, north and south, and provide unforgettable experiences for visitors in a sustainable way. Anyone familiar with Loop Head will know what a unique setting it is and it’s great to see this project get the required approval. "

The Great Lighthouses of Ireland partnership across 17 lighthouse sites delivers 23 unique tourism experiences. The partnership is led by Irish Lights, who founded it in 2015, and is made up of public, private and community sector partners. It delivers an estimated €16.8m in economic benefit annually and supports over 400 direct and indirect jobs in coastal communities. It offers visitors the opportunity to stay at or visit a lighthouse and to enjoy experiences and tours based around the vicinity of the lighthouse.

The project's approval comes after extensive consultation and planning, with a focus on sustainability and conservation. To book your Great Lighthouses of Ireland adventure go to www.greatlighthouses.com

Published in Lighthouses

Coastal Notes Coastal Notes covers a broad spectrum of stories, events and developments in which some can be quirky and local in nature, while other stories are of national importance and are on-going, but whatever they are about, they need to be told.

Stories can be diverse and they can be influential, albeit some are more subtle than others in nature, while other events can be immediately felt. No more so felt, is firstly to those living along the coastal rim and rural isolated communities. Here the impact poses is increased to those directly linked with the sea, where daily lives are made from earning an income ashore and within coastal waters.

The topics in Coastal Notes can also be about the rare finding of sea-life creatures, a historic shipwreck lost to the passage of time and which has yet many a secret to tell. A trawler's net caught hauling more than fish but cannon balls dating to the Napoleonic era.

Also focusing the attention of Coastal Notes, are the maritime museums which are of national importance to maintaining access and knowledge of historical exhibits for future generations.

Equally to keep an eye on the present day, with activities of existing and planned projects in the pipeline from the wind and wave renewables sector and those of the energy exploration industry.

In addition Coastal Notes has many more angles to cover, be it the weekend boat leisure user taking a sedate cruise off a long straight beach on the coast beach and making a friend with a feathered companion along the way.

In complete contrast is to those who harvest the sea, using small boats based in harbours where infrastructure and safety poses an issue, before they set off to ply their trade at the foot of our highest sea cliffs along the rugged wild western seaboard.

It's all there, as Coastal Notes tells the stories that are arguably as varied to the environment from which they came from and indeed which shape people's interaction with the surrounding environment that is the natural world and our relationship with the sea.