Frustration has been expressed at the slow pace of the roll-out of a tourism initiative for parts of South and West Clare.
The Shannon Estuary Way was launched in June of last year, and is being positioned as an off-shoot of the Wild Atlantic Way.
It will aim to attract visitors to piers in Knock, Labasheeda and Crovraghan, as well as Clarecastle, Kildysart and Shannon, but no signs have been erected for it even though it was first announced twelve months ago.
Fáilte Ireland has told Clare FM that signs will be erected by the end of the year, but West Clare Fine Gael Councillor Gabriel Keating says progress has been too slow.
Statement from Fáilte Ireland
The new Shannon Estuary Way, a looped drive off the Wild Atlantic Way, provides a significant opportunity for Limerick and Ennis, as gateway towns to the Wild Atlantic Way, opening up the region’s inland hinterland to visitors as well as supporting the strong local accommodation base and variety of visitor attractions and services along the route. As the Wild Atlantic Way continues to grow, we can now start to develop additional experiences for visitors to enjoy and, through initiatives like this, we can start to develop tourism activity which ensures a greater spread of visitors across the West of Ireland. The Shannon Estuary Way is a pilot project, developed by Fáilte Ireland in conjunction with a local Steering Group (which includes Clare County Council). The route identification phase was completed in time for the 2017 summer season and a visitor map was produced and widely distributed. The Navigation Strategy and the Interpretation Strategy have also now been completed, delivering 11 Viewing Points along the Shannon Estuary with information boards due to be installed by the end of 2018.
