Boating Season Opens

Ireland’s boating season reopened on March 17th, in line with other European countries, with all services and facilities once again accessible at the extensive range of moorings and harbours across Ireland. Over 15,000 registered boats avail of Ireland’s navigations for recreational use.

Waterways Ireland provides a range of services and facilities at over 250 amenity sites across the 1,100km of navigable waterways. These range from waterfront rural sites with parking and a mooring or quay wall to semi-urban and urban waterside sites with floating moorings, electricity, toilets and showers. Local businesses, including cafes, restaurants, bike and water activity rentals, will also benefit from the new and returning boaters visiting their communities throughout the peak seasons.

Since 2002, Waterways Ireland has invested over €100m along the Shannon Navigation and Shannon-Erne Waterway alone, with significant investments across other navigations. This investment has created an international boating destination capable of attracting and accommodating thousands of boaters and visitors, both from home and abroad, to enjoy the Shannon and Shannon-Erne facilities and experience the wonders of Ireland’s Hidden Heartland.

Boaters returning to the waters will enjoy several new and refurbished facilities opening this year that will enhance boaters’ waterways experience. This includes a refurbished and extended Connaught Harbour in Portumna and a new section of Blueway in Portumna, linking Connaught Harbour and Castle Harbour. Extension work on jetties on the Erne at Devenish Island will also be finished shortly, and a Service Block Refurbishment (Ballyconnell and Ballinamore) will be underway this spring.