World-class tourism centre mooted for Offaly
Plans for a world-class €30m visitor experience on a peatland site in Offaly are being developed.
The potential project for a new global tourism and climate action destination is earmarked for a five-hectare Bord na Móna-owned site on the north east corner of Ballaghurt bog, some 12 kilometres from Athlone. It is located in Offaly, along the R446 between Mannion's Cross and Doon, in the townland of Clonaderig, between Ballinahown, Doon and Clonfinlough.
It's being described as akin to the Eden Project in Cornwall, and as “a year-round, all season, must-visit destination of international reputation”.
Preliminary plans suggest the new building could span some 3,600 square metres and include an encounter zone or visitor experience, a climate house zone and a multipurpose event space.
Major outdoor exhibits are also being proposed as part of the overall project.
A feasibility study has estimated it could create the equivalent of 130 full-time jobs, attract 385,000 visitors annually by its third year of operation and have an annual economic impact of €12.3m
It's hoped that a planning application will be lodged by July and that it could be constructed by the end of 2027.
The University of Galway has been tasked with administering the initial phases of the project, including the appointment of a project teams for the design and delivery of a “world-class future-focused visitor experience and Climate House”.
It is currently inviting tenders for a Project Controls Team and Integrated Design Team in two concurrent lots to deliver the project as a whole from design through to final completion.
Sustainability is to be at the heart of the concept with both project teams required to to take a whole-life, zero-waste approach and designing for a circular economy.
Suggested layouts includes a visitor experience area, a multi-purpose future showcase area to accommodate up to 500 people with adjacent exhibition space, a showcase area featuring products and solutions in partnership with companies and agencies, a viewing zone with access to the wider peatland site, training workshops, research areas and offices as well as food and kitchen areas.
It will also include the theme of Ireland's Climate House, designed to recognise the significance of peatlands for climate and biodiversity, and which aims to provide visitors with the context, motivation and tools to adopt sustainable behaviour change in harmony with nature.
Once a planning application is lodged, the responsibility for the project will transfer to the Peatlands and People Foundation, a new nonprofit entity established for the purposes of funding and delivering the People’s Discovery Visitor Attraction.
The project is known as the LIFE Integrated Projects (IP) Peatlands and People – People’s Discovery Visitor Attraction.
The LIFE programme is the EU’s funding instrument for environment and climate action.
The Peatlands and People project, of which the visitor experience is one part, is a climate action initiative aiming to use peatlands as a model to inspire behavioural change and build capacity in a region of transition.
In 2020, University of Galway, along with Bord Na Mona, National Parks & Wildlife Service, the Environmental Protection Agency, and ERINN Innovation received almost €10m EU Life IP funding for a wider three-part project relating to the enhanced rehabilitation and restoration of Ireland’s peatlands.
The overall project looks to make improvements across 9,900 hectares of Irish peatlands and includes the ecological regeneration of peatlands, a Just Transition Accelerator programme as an economic catalyst and the People’s Discovery Visitor Attraction as a social and cultural catalyst.
To bring the visitor attraction to fruition, the Peatlands and People Foundation intends to seek grants from government departments and agencies, sponsorship from corporations and foundations, and revenue from research and exhibition space in tandem with income from ticket sales and from ancillary services.
The visitor experience aims to be a place of fun, discovery and immersion for all sectors and age groups where they will be brought on a journey of hope and agency towards sustainable living and respect for the natural world.