A €2 million plan to turn the Tipperary shore of Lough Derg into an international waterpark has received the approval and sanction of the EU.
The €1.9 million project will be known as the Lough Derg International Waterpark and will be a joint initiative of North Tipperary County Council and Shannon Development.
Under the proposed plan, four centres along the lake - Ballina, Garrykennedy, Dromineer and Terryglass - will be provided with visitor facilities, showering units, toilets, play areas, picnic sites and barbecue areas in an attempt to entice tourism to the region.
In 2003, North Tipperary, Clare and Galway county councils, Ireland West Tourism and Shannon Development commissioned consultants to prepare a strategy to develop the onshore tourism infrastructure of Lough Derg.
The county councils proposed that an €8 million waterpark idea would provide an environmentally and economically sustainable tourism benefit to the Lough Derg area.
However, the initial plan for this waterpark did not meet with Governmental approval and North Tipperary County Council decided to press ahead with a revised plan for the Tipperary shore of the lake.
Under the plan, lakeside facilities in Tipperary will be similar in layout and design and could operate on a swipe-card basis and provide essential services for people and tourists visiting Lough Derg.
Already, Ballina and Dromineer are identified as primary development sites in north Tipperary, with Garrykennedy and Terryglass forming the second development tier.
The project has received grant aid of 50 per cent of eligible expenditure, up to a maximum of €960,500, towards the provision of tourism facilities.
The funding will be administered by Fáilte Ireland with the support of the Department of Arts, Sport and Tourism and will be matched by funding from North Tipperary County Council.
Director of services with North Tipperary County Council, Tom Barry said he was "delighted" that the plan had approved funding and added that the funding would provide a "boost" to the tourism industry in the county.
Mr Barry confirmed that the project would start "towards the middle" of 2006 and he hoped it would be completed by the end of summer 2007.