Environment Minister John Gormley (left) has come under fire from a Meath-based campaign group for failing to nominate sites such as The Burren, Cliffs of Moher and Clonmacnoise, as potential UNESCO World Heritage Sites.As the UNESCO World Heritage Committee begins its annual meeting in Seville, Spain this week, Tarawatch has claimed in the Meath Chronicle that Minister Gormley reneged on his commitment to nominate the sites to the committee.
The group says he has broken his promise, without even an explanation, after conducting a long and expensive public consultation since last year.
Earlier this year, the Department of the Environment said that a key initiative of the Department’s UNESCO world heritage programme was the preparation of a UNESCO World Heritage Site nomination for the Burren.
The World Heritage List includes 878 properties in 141 countries, which the World Heritage Committee considers as having outstanding universal value. They include monuments and landmarks as diverse at the Great Wall of China, the Great Barrier Reef, the Sydney Opera House, Machu Picchu in Peru, as well as the historic centres of famous cities such as Venice, Prague, Rome and Paris.
Ireland currently boasts two listed World Heritage Sites; Skellig Michael (1996) and Archaeological Ensemble of the Bend of the Boyne (1993). Each World Heritage Site is the property of the state on whose territory the site is located, but it is considered in the interest of the international community to preserve each site.
