The parish priest of Liscannor, Co. Clare, has thrown his weight behind a campaign against plans for a park and ride facility in the village for tourists visiting the Cliffs of Moher. Fr Denis Crosby said the proposed 385 space car park would be “an eyesore”.
The Atlantis tour operator which is managing visitor facilitation at the Cliffs of Moher interpretative centre has proposed car parks at Liscannor and Doolin from where visitors would be bussed to the cliffs.
But Fr Crosby said he failed to see “what useful purpose might be served by the provision of this facility”.
“The experience of visiting the cliffs will be made more difficult for visitors and I believe that fewer people will go there if this plan is followed through, which would be a great pity” he stated in a written objection to the Liscannor proposal.
“In summertime, the best way to describe Mass-time traffic here is chaotic” he went on.
“An already difficult situation will be made impossible and very dangerous if this extra traffic is diverted into a roadway practically opposite the church”.
He warned that “several hundred people will be seriously put at risk and untold convenience will be caused to the parishioners of Liscannor and tourists by the provision of this car park”.
Fr Crosby said that it was unfair “that an attractive little village, of a very small population, should have an eyesore imposed upon it. It is entirely out of proportion to the existing village”.
Meanwhile, the Ursuline order has been granted leave to appeal to Bord Pleanala against planning permission for a major development on the former Sligo convent.
Sligo Borough Council granted approval to Close Care Foundation – to whom the order sold the property - for a mixed use development including a medical centre and housing on the site of the convent building and an adjacent 13 acre site.
The Foundation says the Centre will provide specialist care facilities, including a hydrotherapy suite, gym, treatment rooms, retail units, a day centre and rehabilitation therapy workshop.
It is also to contain a high dependency unit for people with brain injuries and 23 two-bedroom units for assisted living.
The existing convent building, a protected structure, is to be refurbished for office use.
The Ursuline order is objecting to conditions imposed by the council regarding the provision of an entrance and exit to the development.
The sisters argue that a requirement of the council that a road be built on land which they had not sold and which contains basketball courts used by their school will affect their enjoyment of the land and reduce its value.
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