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Scariff Harbour Festival this bank holiday


THE links and friendships that were forged between an East Clare harbour town and Northern Ireland over the last 10 years will be celebrated with gusto during the August Bank Holiday weekend.
In addition to highlighting Scariff as a waterways hub, Waterways Ireland chief executive, John Martin has hailed the economic benefits it generates for local businesses. This year’s festival runs from Thursday, August 2 to Sunday, August 5.
The seeds of a special relationship with Northern Ireland took root when Mark Durkan, the then Leader of the SDLP, and the late David Ervine of the Progressive Unionist Party, shared a platform on the town’s Fair Green on a late summer evening in 2003.
Since then, firm links between communities on both sides of the border have been strengthened at political, cultural, sporting and social levels during the Waterways Ireland Scariff Harbour Festival. Jeanette Ervine, wife of the late David Ervine, has returned regularly to present an angling trophy in her husband’s memory sponsored by Waterways Ireland.
“It is an opportunity for us to extend the warmest of Clare welcomes to visitors not only from Northern Ireland and beyond but also to welcome back Scariff natives scattered across the country and the globe,” he said.
Lough Derg is a tourism jewel on the county’s doorstep and is a particularly significant focal point on the Irish inland navigable waterways. The festival made it one of its primary objectives from the outset to make this known throughout Ireland, Europe and further afield.
The festival has developed a close productive relationship with Waterways Ireland since the festival’s inception in 2003 and Scariff was one of the first-ever festivals to be supported by the authority.
It has helped the significant expansion of the town’s role as an important centre on the inland waterways and has opened up opportunities to introduce visitors to East Clare attractions and amenities.

 

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