Floating a Development & Tourism Strategy for the Grand Canal in Offaly
Tuesday 13th September 2011, Offaly Historical Society, Bury Quay, Tullamore. 8.30 pm.
A meeting on the above topic was held before the summer, and the groups in attendance had some ideas regarding the ongoing promotion of the Grand Canal as a link through the various town and tourist facilities along way. Now, after hopefully using the canal over the summer, your group will have some further ideas as to how to improve the Offaly use of this resource, and the promotion of it as a tourism link.
The Offaly branch of the Inland Waterways Association of Ireland invite you to a meeting next week, date and time as above.
If you are not the correct person to receive this email, can you please send it along to someone who might be able to attend.
The purpose of the meeting is to try and bring groups along the Offaly stretch of the Grand Canal together to generate interest in developing a joint development and tourism strategy. Groups invited include boaters, canoers, walkers, arts groups, festival groups, youth groups, councillors, business representatives and so on. Please feel free to pass this email on to any group you think might like to attend.
•The outcome of the meeting will hopefully be an alliance of such groups, and the start of a collective submission to the relevant development agencies, regarding input that can be offered, by the groups, as to how the area can capitalise on the Grand Canal in Offaly.
•As many of you also maybe know, a launch late last summer of the Waterways Ireland/Discover Ireland ‘Lakelands and Inland Waterways Strategy’ and the multiagency re-development of Shannon Harbour, were anticipated to bring opportunities to extend that development further into Offaly.
•In addition, a development document for the waterways at the Dublin end of both the Royal Canal and Grand Canal is established.
•The Royal Canal was also re-launched last Autumn as a re-furbished waterway and had received much use this summer.
•The idea of the meeting next week is to ensure that the Offaly aspect of the Grand Canal is also seen as an essential element of inland waterways development and tourism opportunities.
