The new centre and associated facilities are expected to greatly enhance the overall visitor experience at one of Europe's most visited tourist locations while establishing the Cliffs of Moher as the flagship of Irish tourism. The project has given a very significant economic boost to County Clare and the employment opportunities being created at the site were similar to the establishing of a major industry in the region.

Visitor numbers to the Cliffs of Moher exceeded 900,000 in 2006, representing a 7% increase on figures for 2005. Clare County Council anticipates that over one million people will visit the Cliffs of Moher New Visitor Experience in 2007.

 From the winning design of Cork based Reddy O'Riordan Staehli Architects, the visitor centre has been subsumed into the contours of the local terrain and covered by the grass hills to minimise any visual impact. The building includes a restaurant, café, tourist Information area, retail shop, public toilet facilities, First Aid Room, and 'Atlantic Edge', a state of the art interpretation centre containing exhibits and display on a range of aspects of the Cliffs of Moher.

The issue of visitor safety formed an integral part of Clare County Council's approach to developing the Cliffs of Moher site. As it was not feasible to patrol the estimated 8 km of cliffs, the Local Authority decided to put in place significant safety management measures along designated official pathways. The enhanced measures include new viewing platforms set back from the cliff edge which give panoramic views out over the Atlantic, reinstatement of banks to provide a low level physical obstruction at the cliff edge, pictorial signage throughout the development to overcome language barriers and the employment of rangers at the site since May 2006 to patrol the cliff edge area.

The ‘Atlantic Edge’ interpretive centre is a huge domed cave housed at the centre of the underground building. The central floor is organised into four principal themed areas exploring different elements of the Cliffs of Moher; Ocean, Rock, Nature and Man. In Ocean, how the Atlantic interacts with the Clare coastlineis examined through interactive explorations of topics such as oceanography, meteorology, continental drift, and changing sea levels looking at their impact on the Cliffs and the surrounding environment.

Further details on the Cliffs of Moher are available on www.cliffsofmoher.ie.