The Gobbins Coastal Walk, Islandmagee, Co. Antrim was reopened in August 2015 with ambitions for the £7.5 million project to attract over 70,000 visitors a year.
Yet due to weather conditions, the tourist site is currently undergoing its second closure since opening.
Business was put on hold between January and April due to storm damage and the path was forced to close again in June due to increased levels of rockfall, meaning it has been closed for the majority of the peak summer season.
The redevelopment of The Gobbins was partly funded by the European Union.
The path was originally opened in 1902 as part of the vision of Berkeley Deane Wise, Chief Engineer of the Belfast and Northern Counties Railway Company.
He wished to use the then recently expanded railway line to draw tourists to the area. The path remained a popular day trip to nearby Whitehead until the 1930s, when it fell into disrepair.
Alongside the coastal walk, there is a visitor centre and exhibition which continues to be open to the public.
Reviews on Tripadvisor were overwhelmingly positive with 165 out of 239 reviewers rating the attraction as excellent. However, there are frustrations with the sporadic opening times.
A woman from Chester who visited in April 2016, commented on Tripadvisor that it was “an amazing experience.”
She said: “The staff were very knowledgeable, extremely helpful and good company. After having done our research we were not disappointed with the location, engineering, nature and even the weather was superb. We have recommended the attraction to other people.”
Another post on the site, from a tourist from Nottingham who visited in May 2016, commented on disappointment in part of the walk being closed.
They said: “We booked online but at arrival at the Centre we were informed that maintenance was underway on the path and the route was cut by one third. This work had been taking place for some time but wasn't mentioned online. We were offered the opportunity to come back another time (which is inappropriate when we had traveled specifically on this day), or to accept a £2.50 voucher to compensate. It would have quite easy to put the notification on the website - I did feel somewhat deceived.”
The coastal walk as viewed from the sea. (Photo: Arthur Ward/Ireland's content pool)The Gobbins is managed by Mid and East Antrim Borough Council and promoted by Tourism NI.
In a statement, Mid and East Antrim Borough Council said:
“In January 2016, damage was caused to The Gobbins access pathway as a result of a land slip caused by record high levels of rainfall and the winter storms.
Land slips, such as The Gobbins experienced, are not uncommon on the Antrim Coast due to the geology of the area. The extremely high rainfall caused by the storms over the autumn and winter period resulted in this unfortunate situation at The Gobbins."
The path reopened on 30 April 2016 following an independent engineering report which confirmed that the landslip and damage to the access paths was caused by severe weather conditions and was unforeseeable.
Mid and East Antrim Borough Council subsequently closed The Gobbins cliff path on Monday 20 June 2016 due to an increase in recorded levels of natural rock fall.
As a unique coastal visitor experience exposed to the elements, The Gobbins will require ongoing routine maintenance involving scaling of the cliff face to mitigate the effects of coastal erosion on the path.
A process of scaling has now been commenced and while this is ongoing, it would be unsafe for visitors to use the path.
No date for reopening has been confirmed.
