Funding is an fundamental element of any campaign, especially one which has been as protracted as the campaign to save Mullaghmore. Over the years the Burren Acton Group has adopted a number of novel approaches to fund raising. Apart from becoming involved in local fund raising activities there are presently two ways in which you can help.
The material below gives a general introduction to campaign funding.
The Burren in Co. Clare, Ireland is one hundred square miles of unparalleled beauty. This limestone landscape is acknowledged as an area of international importance for its flora, fauna and turlough/water ecology. The district around Mullaghmore represents a unique association of limestone pavement and turloughs which supports a diversity of rare habitats and flora. In 1988, in recognition of its importance, the state Wildlife Service recommended the designation of the area as a Nature Reserve.
In April 1991, the Irish government announced the establishment of a National Park within the southwest region of the Burren and (without consultation) unveiled plans for an associated interpretative centre which it proposed to locate in the heart of this region, close to Mullaghmore Mountain. While the establishment of the park was generally welcomed, the site chosen by the Office of Public Works (OPW) for the centre gave rise to widespread protest, based primarily on concern for the delicate ecosystem of the area.
Consequently, early in 1991, the Burren Action Group was formed to campaign for the relocation of the centre to a suitable site in or near a village on the periphery of the Burren. From such a site, the impact of visitor numbers could be spread over the whole Burren on a year-round basis, to the advantage of visitors, local people and the environment alike.
The Burren Action group is made up of environmentally conscious people who care for the Burren and have no vested interest. Involved are local farmers, solicitors, nurses, craftworkers, musicians, teachers, biologists, ecologists, doctors, writers, artists, labourers, homemakers, people without jobs etc., the majority being natives of north Clare.
Support for this viewpoint has been expressed by every environmental organisation in Ireland, including An Taisce (The National Trust for Ireland), the Heritage Council, the Irish Wildlife Federation, Birdwatch Ireland, Friends of the Irish Environment, Irish Peatland Conservation Council etc., by other NGO and state organisations, such as the Mountaineering Council of Ireland, the Irish Federation of Adventure Sports, Bord Failte, and by many concerned individuals, such as the naturalist and film-maker, Eamon de Buitlear, the Nobel Prize winning poet, Seamus Heaney, and members of the rock band U2.
Internationally, concern has been expressed by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), Plantlife and, most importantly, by the World Conservation Union (IUCN). IUCN is the body which sets standards for the operation of National Parks world-wide.
Work on construction of the Interpretative Centre was halted by successful High and Supreme Court actions initiated by the Burren Action Group. In the process, the Group won valuable changes to Irish planning legislation, bringing the OPW under the same planning application system as that required of every private citizen. In the spring of 1995, a new Government announced that the planning application for the Centre would be withdrawn and that the partially-completed development on site would be dismantled.
Rehabilitation of the site, however, did not take place. In October 1996, the government applied for retention of 1.5 acres of car-parking on site and for construction of a substantial building (110 sq metres) as an "Entry Point" to the Burren National Park (projected visitor numbers of 35,000 per annum). This proposed development at Mullaghmore must be seen for what it is - the deliberate creation of a focal point for visitor pressure in a core sensitive area which will inevitably result in demand for further development by both the state and private sector.
The Burren Action Group is opposing the current planning application at Local Authority and Planning Board levels and is also continuing its High Court action for rehabilitation of this sensitive site.
From the onset, the Burren Action Group has said:
We support the recommendations outlined in the Draft Burren National Park Study, Draft Strategic Plan for Tourism in the Burren Area and the Heritage Council's policy statement on Management of the Burren National Park. All of these recommendations highlight the need to locate visitor/interpretative facilities away from the fragile core area of the National Park and in or near existing gateway villages, in accordance with best national and international planning practice; this would allow for concomitant private development (restaurants, craft centres, etc.), while minimising environmental damage while maximising job creation and the socio-economic benefit to the region.
The fact that tax payers' and EU money was recklessly spent on the partially-completed visitor/interpretative centre at Mullaghmore can not be used justify the current planning application to complete a significant Visitor Facility on the site. The recent decision by the Government to rehabilitate the site of the illegal visitor centre at Luggala in the Wicklow National Park supports our campaign for reinstatement of the Mullaghmore site.