NI tourist attraction shut nearly as often as open

A tourist attraction from Northern Ireland in which he received millions for repairs and maintenance has been closed almost as many days as it has been opened in the last decade.

The Cliff Gobbins road in Isandmagee, Anthrim County, reopened the public in 2015.

The Average Council of Anthrim Mid and East Anthrim has spent £ 4.3 million since 2017 on repairs on the road, which has faced prolonged closures due to rock falls, storm damage, planned works and inspections.

A Board spokesman said that the attraction “is projected that the peak” within five years of a great planned renewal, which will mark “an important milestone in its long -term sustainability.”

The Gobbins first opened in 1902, designed by engineer Berkeley Deane Wise.

The Walk cliff, composed of a series of bridges, roads and tunnels, had fallen into poor condition in the 1950s, but an investment of £ 7.5 million saw it Open again in 2015.

Since 2015, the attraction has been closed for 1,624 days combined, or approximately 46% of the time, cord about the figures released to the BBC under the Law of Freedom of Information.

The longest closure was for a year from June 19, 2016 to June 30, 2017.

A Scottish company that offers tours for tours of Northern Ireland said that while the Gobbins promote on its website, they have not included it in the routes due to their “unreliable” opening.

Heather Rennie-Mcgill, director of marketing and sales at Rabbie’s, said that Gobbins have “real potential” as a “unique attraction.”

“If we are selling tours of six to twelve months for the client, and something like this would be a key culminating point because the hard tour of two hours and three hours is a large part of one day, we would need reliability,” he said.

“We cannot include things in our erogars where they would be tasks at the last minute.”

The road is currently closed due to a recent rock drop, whose cost of repairs is unknown.

The Middle and Eastern Council has said that they cannot provide figures on spending on the road before 2017.

BBC has previously reported That essential maintenance costing £ 400,000 was carried out to fix the access route after the damage caused by Storm Frank in 2015, with additional £ 1.6 million assigned for scale work before the 2017 season.

This suggests that at least 5.6 million have been spent to maintain tourist attraction since it reopened.

Mother and her daughter Isabella and Léa Petit Boyer hoped to visit the road a one -week trip to Northern Ireland, but they were disappointed.

“It’s a shame that we can’t see this cliff,” Léa said.

“First we wanted to make the way of the gangs of Gobbins because in the first place the coast is really wonderful, [and] It is a great tourist attraction. “

Stephen Weir, a resident of Islandmagee, said he and his wife hoped to visit the way for his 60th birthday, but could not because he closed.

“It seems to be a regular fact,” he said.

“Hopefully it will be open and we will do it later in the year, but you would think that getting to the summer season … now it would be the time that would be open.”

Stephen also questioned the economic viability of the site.

“In theory, it is a brilliant idea to go out and see birds and all that in their natural habitat, but I mean especially in the current economic climate, I mean, do we spend all that money that is not triggering?”

Stephen Henry, who also lives in the municipality, said he believes that the road is a “waste of money.”

“The rates are paid and it is for a service that is never open.”

He said he had his leg to make the tour on a previous occasion when he was open.

“It is good to see it, there is no doubt about it.

“But is it a value for money -probably not.”

Last year, Mid and East Anthrim Municipal Council announced an investment in the Gobbins of £ 13.5 million, with £ 12.6 million from the agreement of the city of the Belfast Region.

The plans include a new 60 m high ladder, a rope bridge and a new cliff welcome center.

The current visitors center is located five minutes by car from the road, with tours that access the route through a transport bus service from the center.

The expense also includes plans to create a new virtual reality sacrifice at the existing visitors center for those who cannot access the road.

A Board spokesman said that once completed, “the development of phase II is expected to provide substantial economic and tourist benefits, including 245,000 visitors numbers of the cliff route annually, which promotes substantial growth in the local economy.”