HOW IT ALL STARTED
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Point at the stars to see different geoparks |
In April 2003 a presentation was made by Mr Dan Downing to the IRD to explore the possibilities of geotourism development in the Sneem, Castlecove, Casherdaniel area. In May 2003 Dr. Willie Warren of the Geological Survey of Ireland was invited to attend a meeting in Sneem to introduce the European Geopark concept.
The Sneem, Castlecove, Caherdaniel IRD decided to explore this option further and formed a Geopark working group. To create awareness of their objectives at local, regional, national and European level, the Working group prepared an initial evaluation report titled 'Creation of A Geological Park and Interpretative Centre to establish the Area as a New Geotourism Destination'.
During June 2003 this evaluation report was distributed to:
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Cork/Kerry Tourism Ltd
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Kerry County Council
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The Department of Tourism, Sport and Recreation
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The Department of Education
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Fáilte Ireland
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The South Kerry Development Partnership
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The Geological Survey of Ireland
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University College Cork
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National University of Ireland Galway
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FÁS Regional Office
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The Heritage Council of Ireland
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Kerry County Enterprise Board
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The European Geopark Network
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The Local Community
The Kerry County Heritage Officer, Ms. Una Cosgrave toured the area and reviewed the evaluation report, as did the European Geopark Geologist, Mr. Patrick McKeever.
The next step taken was to commission a feasibility study to explore the development of a Geopark further. The working group made an application to LEADER Plus to fund this study. In July 2003 LEADER provided a grant of €18,500 for the development of the project. In September 2003 DARE Ltd was selected by the IRD working group as the consultants to carry out the feasibility study. The study commenced on September 29. Geophysicist, David Howard from Caherciveen was commissioned by the IRD to survey the geology of the area.
The result, a report titled "The Kerry Geopark Report, A feasibility study" was then officially launched on the 12th of March 2004. The report is available for download here
The Old Ballroom, Killarney Road, Sneem, Co. Kerry | kerrygeopark@sccird.com | Tel: 064 75824