Offaly County Development Plan 2021–2027 (as varied) — Chapter 6: Tourism and Recreational Development

1. Page 11

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   Offaly County Development Plan 2021-2027 Chapter 6 Tourism and Recreational Development Page 213 Figure 6.8 Mountain Bike Trail on the Slieve Bloom Mountains Waterways: River Shannon and Grand Canal Waterways route-based activities includes boating, canoeing, angling and numerous water sports and walking and cycling along greenways and blueways. The waterways product in Offaly builds on the attractions of the River Shannon and the Grand Canal. Towns and villages that attract tourist traffic from the River Shannon include Banagher, Shannonbridge and Shannon Harbour. Clonmacnoise is a major destination on the banks of the River Shannon. The towns of Tullamore, Daingean and Edenderry are served by the Grand Canal between Dublin and the River Shannon and play a role of service provider to canal users.

2. Page 12

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   Offaly County Development Plan 2021-2027 Chapter 6 Tourism and Recreational Development Page 214 Figure 6.9 Boating at Shannon Harbour ‘The Lough Ree and the Mid-Shannon Spirit Level; Wet and Wild Lands; A Shared Ambition’ (December 2017) is a shared ambition of a number of local authorities and state agencies which provides a robust foundation for the articulation of a tourism proposition of scale for the Lough Ree and Mid-Shannon area with a view to calling it ‘The Lough Ree and Mid-Shannon Wilderness Park’. The shared ambition seeks to capitalise on the region’s pivotal location in relation to the emerging blue and green off-road network, and its natural setting within, between and across wet and wild lands. Waterway Ireland’s ‘A Tourism Masterplan for the Shannon’ (2020-2030) has as an objective to reposition the combined Shannon Navigation and Shannon Erne Waterway as a key destination within Ireland’s Hidden Heartlands, identifying world class visitor experiences based on the region’s natural and cultural assets. The area includes 5km on either side of the central navigation.

3. Page 13

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   Offaly County Development Plan 2021-2027 Chapter 6 Tourism and Recreational Development Page 215 Figure 6.10 Extent of the Shannon Masterplan Area (Source: A Tourism Masterplan for the Shannon)

4. Page 14

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   Offaly County Development Plan 2021-2027 Chapter 6 Tourism and Recreational Development Page 216 Greenways The Grand Canal Greenway is a valuable recreational and amenity route used by walkers and cyclists and has potential to link to the Barrow Blueway in County Kildare via County Laois and to link to the Royal Canal in County Westmeath. The Grand Canal links to Lough Boora Discovery Park’s extensive walking / cycling routes. The Grand Canal Greenway has been serviced with free public Wi-Fi which is an innovative use of digital technology and infrastructure to deliver real, tangible benefits for local communities and visitors alike. The Council published ‘A Strategy for Walking and Cycling in Offaly; Connecting People Connecting Places’ (2015), which set the vision for County Offaly to connect to, embrace and build on the opportunities for walking and cycling in the county. Following from this the ‘Feasibility Study on the Development of a Major Cycling Destination in the Midlands of Ireland’ was published in 2016. Chapter 8 Sustainable Transport Strategy also addresses walking and cycling. The Council recognises the importance of continuing to extend and link in the form of a network, greenways and peatways in the interests of sustainable mobility, activity tourism, transition to a low carbon and climate resilient society, enhancing amenities, strengthening rural economies and communities, health and wellbeing, job creation and settlement connectivity. In light of this the council working in conjunction with key stakeholders, promotes the establishment of walking / cycling ways along rivers, canals, disused railway lines and peatlands indicated in Figure 6.12 and Figure 6.13 below. The Council recognises that additional infrastructural requirements need to be met such as signage, bicycle stands, service facilities, seating and where necessary car parking. Figure 6.11 Grand Canal Greenway

5. Page 15

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   Offaly County Development Plan 2021-2027 Chapter 6 Tourism and Recreational Development Page 217 Figure 6.12 Proposed Midlands Cycle and Walking Routes (Source: Midlands Senior Planners Regional Implementation Group)

6. Page 16

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   Offaly County Development Plan 2021-2027 Chapter 6 Tourism and Recreational Development Page 218 Figure 6.13 Midlands Cycling Destination, Offaly Network Map (Source: Feasibility Study on the Development of a Major Cycling Destination in the Midlands of Ireland, 2016)

7. Page 17

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   Offaly County Development Plan 2021-2027 Chapter 6 Tourism and Recreational Development Page 219 Sport and Leisure Offaly is a sporting county and has a wide diversity of recreational and sporting activities available to locals and tourists which are a source of adventure / active tourism. Examples include walking, cycling, golf, angling, canoeing, boating, kayaking, cruising, equestrian, swimming, bird watching, parachute and skydiving club, playgrounds, gyms, shooting centre, adventure centres and interpretative centres. Figure 6.14 A Woodland Walk Figure 6.15 Croghan Hill Challenge

8. Page 18

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   Offaly County Development Plan 2021-2027 Chapter 6 Tourism and Recreational Development Page 220 Towns and Villages The towns and villages of the county are important attractions in themselves and can increase visitor dwell time and expenditure in local businesses and communities. They act as focal points / service zones for nearby attractions. Investing in making the public realm attractive encourages further investment and increased visitor numbers. Fáilte Ireland is investing in Destination Towns across Ireland. The purpose is to raise the standard of these towns so that they satisfy the need and desires of tourists. Birr has been chosen by Fáilte Ireland to be a Destination Town. It is also an objective in the Regional Spatial and Economic Strategy to support Tullamore’s role as a tourism hub and development as a Destination Town. Moneygall hosts the ancestral home of former U.S.A. president Barack Obama which has potential to generate tourism revenue for the village. Arts and Culture The Arts encompass many forms including the visual arts, music, literature, performance and drama. The Council’s Arts Office continues to provide funding and a developmental information and advisory service. A vibrant arts scene will continue to make Offaly a more attractive place to visit. A multidisciplinary arts and community centre is under construction in Tullamore. Figure 6.16 Art Exhibition, Birr Civic Offices

9. Page 19

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   Offaly County Development Plan 2021-2027 Chapter 6 Tourism and Recreational Development Page 221 Major Events / Festivals / Conferencing A number of festivals and cultural events attract tourists to the county on an annual basis. The festival and event programme varies annually but some of the regular annual festivals include the Birr Vintage Week and Arts Festival, the Slieve Bloom Walking Festival, the Tullamore Agricultural Show, Tullamore TradFest, OFFline Film Festival in Birr, Shakefest Cultural Dance and Music festival in Tullamore and Hullabaloo! Offaly Children’s Arts Festival. The Council will continue to facilitate the staging of these events where appropriate and will seek to build on the county’s successful experience in hosting such events. The Council recognises that conference business is an important generator of revenue, particularly by reason of Offaly’s accessibility, central location, its facilities and experience in holding successful large events. Figure 6.17 Tullamore Agricultural Show (Photograph by Paula Nolan)

10. Page 20

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    Offaly County Development Plan 2021-2027 Chapter 6 Tourism and Recreational Development Page 222 6.6 Public Rights of Way Existing public rights of way constitute an important amenity and the Council recognises the importance of maintaining established public rights of way and supporting initiatives for establishing walking routes in the county. Section 10(2)(o) of the Planning and Development Acts 2000 as amended state that a Development Plan shall include an objective for ‘the preservation of public rights of way which give access to seashore, mountain, lakeshore, riverbank or other place of natural beauty or recreational utility, which public rights of way shall be identified both by marking them on at least one of the maps forming part of the development plan and by indicating their location on a list appended to the development plan’. This is, by its nature, a lengthy process which will be conducted throughout the lifetime of this Development Plan. Table 6.1 below provides a list and Figure 6.18 shows the extent and location of such public rights of ways, identified to date, in accordance with this provision. It is important to note that this is not an exhaustive list and that the omission of a public right of way from this list shall not be taken as an indication that such a right of way is not a public right of way. Table 6.1 Public Rights of Way in County Offaly Public Rights of Way Ref no. Slieve Bloom Way (an 84km long, circular walking trail, which includes 6 key trailheads) 1 Offaly Way 2 The Grand Canal 3 Slí Mór – Pilgrims Path 4 Slí na Sláinte: Cloghan, Tullamore and Clonbullogue 5 There are significant stretches of land that were formerly in use as railway lines within the county / region. To the extent that these are engineering works negotiating difficult topographical obstacles, they constitute significant resources, with potential for use as corridors for amenity access, free from motorised traffic, and even have potential for a revived railway use. The Council encourages the consideration of proposals for development in these areas for local heritage and outdoor activities including the provision of recreational walkways or cycling routes.

Source Offaly County Council: Offaly County Development Plan 2021–2027 (as varied) — Chapter 6: Tourism and Recreational Development (2021–2027) · Licence the publisher's termsText read from the publisher’s PDF; tables, maps and drawings do not survive as text, and page numbers are the PDF’s (its first page is 1). Check the original before relying on a passage.