Graduate aims to have astrotourists flocking to northwest mayo

OUR ancestors had wonderful night views of the stars, unsullied by artificial light pollution.

The Milky Way and The Big Dipper, signposting the North Star, were as familiar to them as the humps and hollows on the nearest hill or mountain, writes Tom Shiel.

But now, with earth ever developing and populations expanding, the awesome night sky is mostly disappearing.

But there is one tiny corner of north-west Europe, the 10,000 acre Wilderness Park in the Wild Nephin range of Co. Mayo, where the distant stars and galaxies can be viewed, clouds permitting, in all their glorious splendour.

One young woman, Georgia MacMillan, a graduate in outdoor education at Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology (Mayo campus) has a dream.

She is working tirelessly to have Ballycroy and surrounding area designated as a Dark-Sky Park, the first in Ireland.

Georgia, who grew up in London and has a Mayo born mother, Teresa (Barrett), formerly from Bangor Erris, feels the Nephin wilderness zone has the potential to become one of the best dark-sky locations in the world.

Tourism would prosper from such a designation, she insists in a dissertation, 'Preserving our Night-Time Skies', which she recently completed as part of her studies for a BA (Hons) Degree in outdoor education at GMIT.

To lend weight to her opinion, Georgia points to the fact that since Galloway Park in Scotland opened in 2009 as the first Dark-Sky Park in the United Kingdom there has been a local surge in tourist numbers.

'Seventy-seven per cent of local B&B owners reported increased numbers,” Georgia commented.

She added: “People who visit national parks in daytime such as families, hikers, nature lovers also tend to have a passing interest in the night-time sky.”

Numbers of astro-tourists in Ireland's south-west have also increased since the recent designation of the Kerry dark-sky reserve.

A local committee has been established - the Mayo Dark Skies Steering Group - with support from the National Parks and Wildlife Service and Mayo County Council.

There are representatives involved from Ballycroy, Newport and Mulranny as well as other locations in the national park hinterlands.

The ongoing task is to build awareness of the impact of light pollution, not only on our view of the stars, but also its effect on wildlife, as well as reducing energy waste with unnecessary cost.

The response both locally and nationally to the Ballycroy dark-sky initiative has been tremendous.

In this regard, Georgia MacMillan singled out Professor Brian Epsey of Trinity College, Dublin, who has provided research sources, light meter equipment and even travelled to Ballycroy for the purposes of setting up a field study.

Members of Galway Astronomy Club have also lent the fledgling Ballycroy group some valuable expertise.

A plan to eliminate local light waste which could hinder star-gazing is one of the immediate aims of the dark-sky team.

“We want to encourage local people to think about the type of lights they are using,” Georgia explained.

She added: “There is no doubt that artificial lighting in today's world is necessary, but I believe that it can be overused and is often misdirected.

“Personally, I'm not keen on harsh lighting and prefer the beauty of our natural skies even though I grew up in the city (London).”

It is simply lighting in the wrong place or in excess, that leads to light pollution and can have impacts for wildlife and human health (through circadian clock interference).

The graduate ends our interview by emphasising that Dark-sky status for Ballycroy would not only bring media attention to the area for eco-friendly tourism but would also fit in neatly with the environmental goals of the National Park.

Fittingly, Georgia began her dark skies thesis with a famous quote from the 19th/20th century French physicist, Jean Perrin: “It is indeed a feeble light that reaches us from the starry sky. But what would human thought have achieved if we could not see the stars?”

 

 

* The project is one of The Connaught Telegraph's entries in this year's Get Involved local newspaper community project competition.