Advertisement
If you have a new account but are having problems posting or verifying your account, please email us on hello@boards.ie for help. Thanks :)
Hello all! Please ensure that you are posting a new thread or question in the appropriate forum. The Feedback forum is overwhelmed with questions that are having to be moved elsewhere. If you need help to verify your account contact hello@boards.ie

US donors express interest in Cliffs of Moher sponsorship opportunities

Options
  • 19-09-2006 3:48pm
    #1
    Lightholler
    Closed Accounts Posts: 46 ✭


    Clare County Council has confirmed today that is engaged in talks with a number of potential US donors in a bid to bridge an estimated EUR3 million funding shortfall in the EUR31.45m project at the Cliffs of Moher. The announcement comes just weeks ahead of a Clare County Council visit to the US where it is scheduled to meet with prominent members of the Irish-American community and business sectors in New York, Chicago and Phoenix.
    Ger Dollard, Project Leader for 'Cliffs of Moher New Visitor Experience' team told this evening’s September meeting of Clare County Council that the Local Authority is “confident” the project will be completed on schedule and to the required standard.

    “Given the iconic status of the site and the significance of the development, Clare County Council is convinced that opportunities will arise to attract funding to the project and that suitable mechanisms exist to acknowledge such funding in an appropriate way as part of the completed development. Progress has been made in promoting the project in the USA and considerable work was undertaken and contacts built up from the Council’s visit to New York as part of St. Patrick’s Day celebrations 2006. During that visit, a number of significant presentations were made while talks with numerous potential donors have been ongoing since then”, Mr. Dollard stated.
    Construction work on the project commenced in April 2005 and is expected to be completed in early 2007. Clare County Council has secured EUR10 million in grant aid from Fáilte Ireland for the scheme. It also has secured a loan of EUR15 million and invested EUR3 million of its own resources. Mr. Dollard expressed satisfaction that good progress is being made in bridging the funding gap. “Clare County Council is satisfied that a number of parties will avail of the sponsorship opportunities on offer. These include a contribution by one large organisation towards the project and the provision of funding towards the fit out of a first aid room in the new Cliffs of Moher Visitor Centre ”, he added.

    A Clare County Council delegation - consisting of Mr. Ger Dollard and Mayor of Clare Cllr. Flan Garvey - will travel to the United States next month in a bid to raise the remaining funds. During the October visit, the delegation will make a presentation to key members of New York’s business community and will attend the annual dinner of the city’s Clare Association, at which US Attorney and Clare-native Patrick Fitzgerald is the invited guest speaker. The Local Authority is also scheduled to meet with the Clare Association in Chicago, individual private donors in Arizona, and individuals and representatives of America’s corporate sector.

    According to Mayor Garvey, “I am satisfied that this visit will significantly contribute to the promotion of the Cliffs of Moher New Visitor Experience project, which has received extensive positive coverage in the US press.”

    “The economic benefits of the project for county Clare and tourism along Ireland’s western seaboard are huge. Over 100 jobs are set to be created at the new centre while up one million people are expected to visit the world famous landmark in its first year of operation”, Mayor Garvey concluded.


Advertisement