Branding the Burren - your opinion please
Moves are underway to prepare a signage plan for the Burren and to develop a Burren brand. How do you feel about this?
I have been a Burren enthusiast since I first visited in April 1966. I am a confirmed hibernophile and, I suppose an honorary Irishman, being of Irish descent on my mother's side and married into a Co Tipperary family. It must be four years since I was last in the Burren and I write as a regular, if not frequent visitor. I have to say that clear signage is not an Irish characteristic and some places are cluttered with signs and others totally devoid of any guidance to the non-map reading visitor. Anything to sort this out must be welcome. I did blanch when I read of the Brurren brand. The Burren is a precious but living landscape and not a product nor a brand. There is also the issue of the "proper" Burren against Burrens made by natives, lovers of the place and one-off visitors. I would hate to see anyone "Burren" imposed. Who would dare to presume that one " Burren" is superior to any other?
I retire in a few months time and I look forward to seeing the Burren on a more frequent basis.
John Bradbeer, UK
I would urge extreme caution and sensitivity. The proliferation of signs could become an end in itself and lends itself too much to commercial interests. We don’t need to turn the Burren into a succession of multilingual signs to be read. Make it necessary for visitors to stop and get close to special locations and there to read unobtrusive informative charts .
I would advocate a series of detailed maps that would offer emblems to show the particular point of interest. The serious visitor would need to purchase these maps to have a satisfying experience. This would ensure a new source of revenue and in successive printings would develop progressively according to the observations & suggestions of visitors. So instead of expensive and static (in time and location) pieces of intrusive imagery (subject to visits by vandals) we could enhance the experience of a Burren tour by personal involvement.
You must also publish annually photographs submitted by visitors. Organise a competition each year, display the entries and let the visitor vote a choice. Each annual booklet would become a collector’s piece.
Lean ar aghaidh leis an obair
Brendon K Colvert, Ireland
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