THE CLIFFS OF Moher trail is unlikely to open at all this year, as safety works are undertaken at the Co Clare tourist destination.

The decision follows an inspection by Sport Ireland last year which found visitors ill-equipped for conditions, people ignoring warning signs, and a humanist wedding where participants were standing close to the cliff with their backs to the edge.

The review was undertaken after two youngsters tragically fell to their deaths at the County Clare cliffs in July.

The inspection report said many walkers were simply ignoring warning signs, climbing over flagstone barriers, and going straight towards the cliff edge.

Over one million people each year travel to the Cliffs of Moher, where visitors can undertake a clifftop walk and visit an interpretation centre. The trail is managed on behalf Clare County Council by subsidiary group Clare Local Development Company (CLDC).

RTÉ has reported that the Clare Local Development Company (CLDC) which oversees the running of the trail, do not expect to see it reopen this year to visitors.

“These issues needed to be dealt with before the trail could be reopened,” Eoin Hogan from the local development company told RTÉ Radio One.

“We couldn’t open the trail unless we did these works. It’s serious construction work that has to be done. The trail is too close to the edge in certain sections. The trail has to be moved back from the edge.”

“We have to get landowner agreement, we have to get planning in place in terms of regulatory planning for those works, and Clare County Council are involved in working on those projects as well.”