Oh I did, it is this one here, so I must have ventured further onto the island than I remembered.

The German site with one million visitors must be referring to something that got a boost from becoming a World Heritage Site rather than an equivalent communication heritage site?

From looking at our connection of sites with over a million visitors, the best guess I could make is Zollverein (incidentally the link on that one is a deadend now, but the official site has a figure of over two million visits), as the others don't seem comparable; Museuminsel, Aachen and Cologne Cathedrals.

Amazingly it appears that Ireland has recently embarked upon a process to update its Tentative List, even though it has done NOTHING with its current list created back in 2010. See all the plans detailed above under this topic for nominations in 2011, 2012, 2013., 2014 .......etc etc!

This link announces the process. It appears to be aiming at a fairly slow pace since applications don't close until end June 2020! And then these all have to be evaluated! The idea is to cover T List possibilities for the Years 2020 - 2030. Which is a ridiculous statement given that it couldn't even be complete before late 2020. There is no indication that any of the existing T List entries are "active" in developing a Nomination before then.

I did some research on it for my latest blog post (see final 2 paragraphs). There is very little activity to be found, I read a few times that they seem to be worried about the costs involving a nomination. The only 2 possible candidates for the new T List that I could find were the Valentia Telegraph Station (likely) and Cork Harbour fortifications (rumour).

I can't get the world heritage Ireland site to load.

As you say Solivagant it seems odd to restart the process as the current t-list is pretty coherent and has a fair few potential quality nominations within, in a country that isn't particularly over represented (by European standards anyway).

It has been nearly quarter of a century since they nominated anything, I don't really understand the reluctance to put something forward at the same time as drumming up support for new t-lists.

I can sort of understand the view that costs of nominations are high, but Ireland is one of the wealthier countries in the world (per capita anyway) and for the majority of these sites the additional revenues generated would recoup that pretty quickly, especially appealing to some of the lesser visited counties which are home to the sites of higher quality (Clonmacnoise on the Offaly Roscommon border being a case in point).

Will be interesting to see what comes out, though I struggle to think of better candidates than those already on there.

Yes - very strange. The entire "World Heritage Ireland" Web site seems to be unreachable.
If you do a Google search on "World Heritage Ireland " or "World Heritage Ireland Tentative List" and then try to reach either of the relevant sites, you get the same "not available" response -so it isn't simply an error in the copying of the link into the post. It is a Government site so presumably they will get it up again some time!!

The site and specific t-list page are back up now.

Still none the wiser on the need for it, being as thee hasn't been any progress on the previous sites, which seem to be the strongest candidates. Perhaps it is just an exercise to get a couple of specific sites on (Valentia Cable Station) and a couple off (no idea which ones, though the western stone forts were the only ones that didn't have a previous nomination slot allocated to them) the current list.

Perhaps there are domestic reasons for the process to be renewed, though a quick search did't seem to turn anything up in particular.

https://afloat.ie/port-news/island-news/item/52585-valentia-island-s-transatlantic-cable-among-six-irish-nominations-for-unesco-world-heritage-status

New tentative list to be submitted in March 2022, the following six possible TWHS are now being scrutinized for their OUV:
- Valentia island's transatlantic cable ensemble
- Iniscealtra or Holy Island in Co Clare
- Co Sligo's passage tomb landscape
- the Burren upland cultural landscape in Co Clare
- Glendalough valley in Co Wicklow
- The royal sites of Ireland

Re the "non-inclusion" of Ceide Fields and Clonmacnoise among the 6 sites scrutinized for final inclusion in Ireland's revised T List.

I came across this response to a parliamentary question about Ceide Fields to the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage on June 23 this year -
Question - "Deputy Alan Dillon asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the reason the Céide Fields lost its place on UNESCO's tentative list for world heritage status, considering its significance as a world-renowned heritage site and its historical evidence of Ireland's first farmers; and if he will make a statement on the matter."
Answer - "My Department's policy is for applications to be sponsored by the relevant local authority or key stakeholders/landowners in order to ensure continuity throughout the process. This is crucial in order to facilitate public consultation and wider stakeholder engagement, particularly in light of the requirement under UNESCO Operational Guidelines for participatory planning and public consultation...........No application was received in respect of the Céide Fields, in effect removing itself from consideration for inclusion on the current Tentative List, but does not preclude it from being included in future iterations."

and this quote about Clonmacnoise from an article of 2010
"Clonmacnoise was first put forward by the Irish Government as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2006. Last July a highly charged meeting to discuss the bid descended into an IFA-led walkout as several farmers voiced their concern at the potential restrictions that might be imposed on farmers in the Clonmacnoise area by its inclusion on the list. However, speaking this week, Minister Gormley re-emphasised that "the nomination of any property from the new tentative list for inscription on the World Heritage List will only take place after consultation with relevant stakeholders and interested parties".

So - neither site made an "application" for inclusion in the latest T List. I think we can put it down in both cases to opposition from the "agricultural lobby". When we visited in July 2022 the receptionist at the Ceide Fields visitor Centre confirmed that local opposition meant that it would not be considered.

We were disappointed with the removal of Ceide Fields - it seemed to have a unique story to tell, albeit controversial regarding the origin of the people who were farming there. And Ireland had spent a lot of money fattening it up as pointed out by the Minister - "Fáilte Ireland, the Office of Public Works and my Department together have invested over €2.6million in a new immersive experience at the Céide Fields visitor centre, which opened last summer that will ensure that the Céide Fields and north Mayo are a must visit destination along the Wild Atlantic Way route."

See https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/question/2023-06-20/360/

Astronomical Observatories of Ireland - funding announced preparatory to pulling together a bid to join Ireland's T-List. And it will be cross-border with Armagh in NI part of the bid alongside Dunsink and Birr in the Republic: https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-northern-ireland-68370638

Sceilg Mhichíl

The WHS now forms part of Ireland's newest national park, Páirc Náisiúnta na Mara, Ciarraí (loosely translates as National Park of the Sea, Kerry).

Irish historical observatories seek UNESCO status

https://www.rte.ie/news/ireland/2025/0418/1508329-astronomical-observatories-unesco/

The inclusion of Armagh Observatory would also have the UK involved as Liam pointed out above. It would also get Dublin it's WHS if inscribed.

The worst part of the Sceilg Mhichíl soap opera is over: the ban on the permits is lifted for the time being, so that landing tours should have started again on June 7th (depending o nthe weather):

https://www.gov.ie/en/office-of-public-works/press-releases/opw-to-issue-boat-permits-for-2025-season-at-sceilg-mhich%C3%ADl/

But they will still need to sort out the issues with the licenses. We can expect boats to be allowed to carry less passengers (12 > 10), so possibly prices to rise...

I flicked through Ireland's new world heritage "strategy". I imagine this is coming about because tourism is down in Ireland (for a variety of reasons). No specific sites beyond the existing T-list are mentioned but the only interesting nugget is that it suggests it wants to submit a nomination dossier in 2028.

The Passage Tomb Landscape of County Sligo preparing a management plan, preliminary assessment request and nomination dossier. Mentions 2030.