Billy Timmins
Question:15. Deputy Billy Timmins asked the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform his plans to develop tourist facilities at Glendalough, County Wicklow. [44255/13]
View answerThursday, 21 November 2013
Questions (15)
Written answers
The Office of Public Works (OPW) maintains a modern Visitor Centre at Glendalough staffed by Guides on a year round basis displaying an interesting exhibition and an audiovisual show about the history of the site. In addition, the OPW provides a guide presence to further enhance the visitor experience and English, French, Italian, Spanish & German guided tours are available throughout the year. Many commercial tour operators operate day tours to the site and it is a popular destination close to Dublin for international short stay visitors, which remains open all year round.
Visitors may freely access the Glendalough site and scenic walks around the lakes without entering through the Visitor Centre and many clearly choose to do this. The OPW is not in a position to capture data on this traffic but it is certainly significant. Visitor numbers recorded at the OPW Visitor Centre in 2012 were 79,983; the equivalent number recorded to end September 2013 is 72,033. It is clear that many multiples of this figure visit the site without visiting the Centre.
It is evident, given the volume of traffic to Glendalough, that visitors will continue to be attracted in large numbers to this location and the primary focus and challenge to OPW will be to continue to preserve and protect the Monument and present it to the public in a way that ensures that the fabric of the site is not damaged. The facilities currently available to OPW to fulfil this mandate are adequate for the purpose and there are no immediate plans to develop any further tourist facilities. However, given the large volume of visitors a number of management issues have arisen in recent years in the vicinity which make it imperative to manage the traffic to the Glendalough site more efficiently. In this regard, the OPW has engaged with local stakeholders, including Wicklow Co. Council, to focus on issues such as carparking, traffic management and visitor security so as to ensure that the many people who wish to visit Glendalough can continue to do so safely and enjoyably. OPW will also continue to engage with Fáilte Ireland to ensure that Glendalough is marketed appropriately internationally as a visitor destination and that awareness of the site and its attractions for visitors are presented favourably wherever possible. High profile visits such as that undertaken by the First Lady of the US and her children, help considerably to raise the profile of the site.