Tourists' coins damaging Giant's Causeway allure in Ireland
Giant's Causeway, one of the most significant natural sites in Northern Ireland, faces a new threat. Tourists are leaving coins in the crevices of the basalt columns, which is causing damage.
Renowned for its legends of battles between giants, Giant's Causeway has long been challenged by coastal erosion and rising sea levels. Now, a fresh issue has emerged—tourists inserting coins into the crevices of the basalt columns. At first glance, these coins may be invisible, but soon you notice hundreds of them, in every crevice and nook.
According to the BBC, similar to the locks on the Pont des Arts bridge in Paris, visitors leave coins for luck or love. These coins are causing serious problems, which is why the caretakers of Giant's Causeway, the National Trust, are urging visitors not to leave change in the rock crevices.
"People see others put coins in, so they copycat, they take a coin out of their pocket and they might take a stone off the ground to hammer the coin in, but they might miss and chip the stone itself so that's doing damage," said Dr. Cliff Henry from the National Trust, quoted by the BBC.
Preventive actions
The National Trust is appealing to the public to stop inserting coins to prevent further rock damage. Dr. Kirstin Lemon from the Geological Survey of Northern Ireland recommends removing as many coins as possible to prevent further physical and chemical damage. A specialist stonemason has already begun work, removing about 10 percent of the coins.
"He's [a specialist] done some test sites already so we know we can take these coins out without doing damage to the stones themselves," noted Henry.
Last year, about 684,000 people visited Giant's Causeway, and this number is approaching the pre-pandemic level, when nearly a million tourists visited in 2019. The National Trust emphasizes that Giant's Causeway is not only Northern Ireland's most valuable natural phenomenon but also a vital part of the economy.
