Tour coach operator Paddywagon has been hit with a €5,700 bill after admitting it ran an unauthorised service to the State’s most popular natural tourist attraction, the Cliffs of Moher.

The tour operator was caught when two officers from the National Transport Authority (NTA) boarded the service, posing as tourists, outside the five star Merrion Hotel in Dublin on the morning of April 15th.

Solicitor George Maguire, for the NTA, told Judge Adrian Harris at Ennis District Court that there were aggravating factors in the case as he asked the judge to impose the maximum €5,000 fine allowed for such an offence in the district court.

Paddywagon had been convicted of the exact same offence in the same court for the same route only 12 months previously, he said. At that time, the tour operator had sought and was given forbearance of the court.

Another aggravating factor, Maguire said, is that only 24 hours before court, Paddywagon was still advertising online on essentially the same website, Elegant Irish Tours service to the Cliffs of Moher.

The NTA has issued 15 warning letters to Paddywagon over the continuation of the service, he told the court.

The judge imposed a fine of €3,000 and costs of €2,700 on Paddywagon Ltd, which had pleaded guilty to the charge.

Solicitor, John Casey for Paddywagon Ltd said that the offence is admitted. Paddywagon has an application for the service with the NTA but the licence application has not been approved yet.

Last year, the Cliffs of Moher attracted 1.5 million visitors and 41 per cent arrived via coach.

Maguire said there were seven passengers on the coach service from Dublin to the Cliffs of Moher on April 15th. They arrived at the Cliffs of Mother at 4.30pm and arrived back at Kevin Street, Dublin at 8.30pm.

He said the “driver in question was cautioned on the day and no licence was forthcoming”. Maguire said that the offence was admitted under the Public Transport Regulation Act 2009.

The most recently filed accounts for Paddywagon Ltd to the end of October 2024 show that it recorded profits after tax of €771,519. The company, a former EY Entrepreneur of the Year finalist, had accumulated profits of €3.08 million.