Decision on Mayo/Galway UNESCO geopark status in 2023

A DECISION on UNESCO status for the Joyce Country & Western Lakes Geopark, which straddles Mayo and Galway, will be known by mid 2023.

UNESCO assessors will be visiting the park this summer. It is now operating as a de facto geopark until the status is granted.

Its signifcance in terms of tourism, the rural economy, education and building sustainable futures for the communities who live there was presented to members of the Claremorris-Swinford Municipal District at their monthly meeting by members of the geopark team.

The geopark area straddles a unique landscape in southwest Mayo and into north Connemara, with an exceptional geology that tells a story spanning millions of years.

If successful, it will be the first UNESCO brand of this level in Connaught.

Forty per cent of the park is in Mayo and the county is home to 60% of its population and the project has very much a community-led multi-agency approach.

In terms of tourism, having the globally recognised UNESCO brand will hugely resonate with visitors, who have been identified as the culturally curious, great escapers, social energisers and the unconstrained. It's also about 'slow tourism', a place where people linger.

Recently, 40 businesses gathered for a networking event in The Lodge At Ashford, including accommodation, activity and attractions providers, to develop packages where they work together.

It is also about products, and getting local produce out to markets and also being used locally.

The project is also working closely with educators in the region.

Councillor Michael Burke said this is a wonderful project which will hugely benefit the communities who live there. He had spoken with the council's chief executive and he was very supportive of it.

To achieve UNESCO status would be a massive boost for the area.

Councillor Damien Ryan agreed that no one could underestimate the importance and value of achieving that status and what it would mean for the entire region.