Michael Ring
Question:237 Mr. Ring asked the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government the projected figures for visitors to a project (details supplied) in County Mayo. [31992/04]
View answerThursday, 2 December 2004
Questions (237)
Written answers
It is difficult to predict visitor numbers for a green field project such as the proposed visitor centre for Ballycroy National Park, County Mayo. However, data from other heritage sites are useful as a basis to assess the potential usage of the proposed new visitor centre.
The closest equivalent attractions within my own Department to Ballycroy are the visitor centres at Connemara and Glenveagh national parks. In the case of the visitor centre in Connemara National Park, some 9,000 visitors were attracted in the first half year of operation. However, this number has risen steadily with 70,623 visitors in 2003. There were 47,651 visitors to the visitor centre at Glenveagh National Park in 2003. These figures relate to the number visiting the visitor centres: actual visitor numbers to the national parks, entry to which is free of charge, are significantly higher.
North West Mayo has two other important visitor attractions, at the Céide Fields in Ballycastle and the Museum of Country Life in Turlough Park House, Castlebar. I understand that the Céide Fields visitor centre attracted some 35,328 visitors in 2003, while the Museum of Country Life attracted some 100,000 in 2003.
The plans for the visitor centre at Ballycroy envisage an attractive and multifunctional facility which I believe will prove successful and will, I hope, attract in the region of 40,000 to 50,000 visitors a year when fully operational with the potential to significantly increase these figures over time.