Sir, – I was born within 25 metres of the Barrow Line in the early 1940s. I can remember the Grand Canal as a working entity, with barges travelling up and down the waterway. I learned to fish and swim along the line in my early teens. By the time I emigrated in the early 1960s, the canal was derelict, the line overgrown and unusable and the waters unfit for swimming.
I have just returned from visiting family in Finland. My daughter, her husband and three children, aged seven, five and two, had just completed a short camping and cycling break covering about 250km over four days, all of which the seven-year-old was able to cycle unaided, principally due to the efficient network of cycling tracks, also used by walkers, available to them. They could also avail of serviced campsites and food and drink outlets along the way.
The Barrow Line lends itself perfectly to the development of this sort of activity for both residents and tourists alike. There is the potential to tie into the Blackstairs Mountain range and, through Bunclody and Enniscorthy, a 1798 heritage trail, leading to Wicklow and by way of Celbridge and Maynooth, linking up with the Royal Canal pathway and ultimately the Western Way.
There is the potential for landowners along the way to provide serviced campsites and also the potential for the development of coarse and game fishing. As we are unlikely to ever become a sun-seeker’s destination, this is the sort of activity-based development Tourism Ireland should be pursuing. It is popular and eco friendly. How to do it? Could I suggest having a look at Finland? – Yours, etc,
PAT LAWLOR,
Corrofin,
Tuam, Co Galway.