Mayor mounts Derg tourism drive

Mayor of Clare, Councillor Pat Hayes, is spearheading a new drive to develop tourism initiatives in the Lough Derg region in a bid to substantially increase business for local accommodation providers.
Councillor Hayes has revealed he has already started to arrange a series of meetings with the major tourism agencies including Waterways Ireland, Shannon Development and Fáilte Ireland to develop major new tourist attractions in East Clare.
Having recently opened the doors of Loop Head Lighthouse for the first time in 341 years, Councillor Hayes is anxious to kickstart a similar tourism venture with the help of all the relevant tourism providers without having to incur major sums of money.
The Maghera councillor has proposed that all the various voluntary bodies such as East Clare Tourism and statutory agencies need to work together to improve the marketing of the Lough Derg region.
He cited walking festivals as just one initiative, which had the potential to attract hundreds of extra visitors to the lake district during a weekend.
Preparations are already being made to officially launch a new East Clare Walking Festival next month. The walking route, which runs from Scariff, Flagmount, Feakle and Mountshannon down to Ballycuggeran a few miles from Killaloe, is pencilled in for Friday, October 21 to Sunday, October 23.
Councillor Hayes stressed the entire Lough Derg region should be promoted and marketed much better in a co-ordinated way by all the interested parties.
“I will be talking to all the major tourism agencies. New projects have to come from local people because we can’t be relying on the Government.
“There have been a lot of positive developments in East Clare but more needs to be done to increase the number of bed nights for accommodation providers.
“Lough Derg has a lot to offer in terms of boating, angling, walks, scenic views and attractions such as Holy Island. It would have been good if the new moorings in Killaloe were put in place about 10 years ago. They can now be used as a springboard for attracting boat users to Killaloe.
“People who have attended festivals in Feakle and Scariff were gobsmacked with picturesque scenery in the area, which they never saw before. They are now coming back to Lough Derg on a very regular basis,” he said. 
He also acknowledged that funding should be sought for a major upgrading of facilities at the Ballycuggeran amenity area following the announcement of an ambitious tourism development at this location back in 2007.
The previous Fianna Fáil-led Government approved a grant of almost €1 million for a major development, which was estimated to cost in the region of €1.4m.
Former Tourism Minister, the late Seamus Brennan, approved grant aid of 75% of eligible expenditure up to a maximum of €847,232, for the provision of environmental management and facilities at Ballycuggeran amenity area.
The funding for the site, which is also known locally as Twomilegate, was approved under Fáilte Ireland’s Tourism Infrastructure Fund and it was expected it would be developed under the Lough Derg International Water Park project.
Shannon Development and Clare County Council were also committed to the provision of significant funding.
However, the development had to be put on hold after the project subsequently was downgraded on the tourism list of priorities due to the economic downturn.