The potential of the Finn and the Foyle must be explored

The potential of the rivers Finn and Foyle ought to be explored in any plan to develop the untapped tourism potential in East Donegal.

That was the message from councillors at Monday's Lifford-Stranorlar Municipal District meeting as they felt it was an obvious way of enhancing the attractiveness of the area.

The idea of developing Blueway tourism was raised by Cllr Gary Doherty.

Blueways are defined as “a stretch of river, a shoreline, or ocean that has been mapped out with the intent of creating an educational, scenic, and challenging experience for recreational paddlers.

Cllr Doherty said he had raised this idea on a number of occasions at municipal district meetings. He said he felt they should develop the potential of the rivers Finn and Foyle.

"They are an underutilized resource in this MD and something we could expand on."

Cllr Gerry Crawford said he too wanted to see this potential realised.

"As someone who was born and raised and living on the banks of the Foyle I have often said it should never be seen only as a threat, it should seriously be taken as a major asset that we have in this particular area."

He added he had, on different occasions, mentioned the fact it was underdeveloped.

"There is one particular area I have asked to be investigated for access and I'm free to talk to anybody who wants to talk to me about it. I can take them there to look at it and definitely, this is an area we should follow up on."

He added he had been reading a book by a local author dating back to the early 1900s  referring to the number of salmon that visitors to her house were able to observe being caught on the one go - 85.

"I wouldn't presume you would get that just now but we have an asset here and we should develop it," he added.

Cllr Patrick McGowan recalled he had motions at an MD meeting in 2017 about developing the Finn and Foyle.

"They have great potential. There are so many strategies going on the Finn-Foyle and pointed out that there was no better example of what could work in a Shared Island Project. It would link up the region from Lough Mourne, Mourne Beg then the Finn linking up with the Mourne in Strabane before going on to Derry as the Foyle. There is certainly room for thought for some sort of tourism Blueway environmental or ecosystem project."

He added he knew Coillte and all the other agencies seemed to be very open to working to improve water quality