Lough Derg

That's where you have a lot of the algae bloom at present.

So we would have a lot of open water swimming here in Lough Derg, you know, and Castle Lough, Drubbanier, Yohalara, Terry Glass.

So this notice and the same notice was issued last year is very, very worrying because, you know, we want good water quality.

And as I say, the algae bloom is quite dangerous, not only for your skin and when you ingest it, but also for the treatment of water later.

In this episode of Tip FM Investigates Building Tipperary, we're looking at the brand new Watersports Centre in Drumminear.

The first inland hub of its kind, built with €1.2 million in funding from Fáilte Ireland, it has showers, toilets, changing rooms and lockers, all for use by anyone using Loch Derg for swimming, boating or any other recreational activity.

A fully accessible Changing Places facility is also being put in as part of the wider vision for the area to make it a safe and welcoming spot to visit for all.

To get the lowdown on this project from start to finish, I spoke to the driving force behind so many of the good things going on in the area, Nina District Administrator Rosemary Joyce.

So once...

Falch Island were on board to consider that for a location.

We then worked with them in terms of the development of this exemplar building which would provide facilities for those who want to use Loch Derg and its amenities for water sports.

That programme took some time to develop because obviously we had to go through planning and it is an environmentally sensitive area, so we had to ensure that that was done appropriately.

And I think that she was right in her belief.

During those lovely summer evening walks along the shores of Loch Derg, Phineas was as happy as he had ever been at any moment of his life.

''I shall never be impatient, never,''

she said to him on the last evening.

And they basically battle it out on Loch Erden.

It used to be on Loch Derg.

And they have to get their species.

So there's three species they get to fill their card.

So is it just that we're not hitting the right targets, maybe?

In terms of hitting the right targets, speaking as a resident of East Clare, of South East Clare, I'm thinking about if I was driving northwards from the southeast of the county, I mean, you're passing through Killaloe, Lough Derg, along Mount Shannon, Gunlow Scariff, all that.

It's beautiful scenery along that route.

But, you know, the figures show 51% of visitors to Clare's attractions were from Ireland and 32% from the U.S., Are East Clare's tourism operators effectively reaching those two markets and highlighting the wonderful scenery in Lough Derg? Maybe, you know, those big markets, the domestic market and the American market, do you feel they don't know enough about the eastern side of the county?

Well, I mean, when, I hate going back to using the C word of COVID, but after COVID and after lockdowns and everything, I mean, we in East Clare, there was a huge, huge increase in domestic visitors.

And people were kind of saying, God, I never knew this place existed.

But they are really making a conscious effort.

They have been over the last couple of years, I feel anyway, of promoting the whole county and everything that it has to offer.

No, I was buying a home, but it was intriguing to...

I'd already just bought a church locally on the banks of Lough Derg in Coolbone, which I had turned into a poetry center.

So I was in the neighborhood

and in the business of what you might call romantic fiction.

back to the East Lair page again.

Questions over water quality in Lough Derg.

I'm trying to get in a few more stories before that dreaded gong goes again.

Yeah, this is an interesting one.

stories.

It does.

No, we mustn't forget that Lough Derg, or the River Shannon system basin, drains 15 counties in Ireland.

So we're blaming the people from

And the log grainy...

So the film is really about the natural and cultural heritage of our amazing... area, including log grainy, including biodiversity and ancient history, mythology, which really, I was really relating to Connie when she was talking about the mythology of the River Shannon, because as I just mentioned, the river grainy and log grainy, log grainy itself and the river grainy that flows out of and flows into the River Shannon, flows into Loch Derg and the Shannon.

Both of those water bodies, Loch Graney and the River Graney, are also named after an ancient Irish goddess, the goddess Grian.

And there's a lot of mythology.