Limerick TD and Minister of State for Tourism, Patrick O’Donovan has launched the Shannon Estuary Drive, a new touring route, branching off the Wild Atlantic Way. The route was proposed by Minister O’Donovan and is being developed as part of a new pilot scheme from Fáilte Ireland to encourage visitors to discover the variety of inland visitor experiences as they travel along the Wild Atlantic Way.
Patrick O’Donovan said:
“As the Wild Atlantic Way continues to grow at an enormous rate since its launch, we can now start to develop additional experiences for visitors to enjoy and that is why I am delighted that the Shannon Estuary Drive, here in Limerick and also in Clare is the first of its kind along with a similar route in the Burren. This route will help us to plan for a more even spread of visitors across the Mid-West and the West of Ireland.”
“After I was appointed as Minister I immediately set about to put a plan in place to develop this route. I called together the main tourism interests in Limerick to see how we could make progress by working together. The Shannon Estuary Drive will, when fully developed, see a route provided from Foynes on the Wild Atlantic Way, through Limerick and onwards to Killimer in Clare to join up again with the Wild Atlantic Way.”
The Drive is being developed by Fáilte Ireland in conjunction with Limerick City & County Council and Clare County Council and regular progress reports are being provided to Minister Patrick O’Donovan in his role as Minister for Tourism.
Speaking today, Fáilte Ireland’s Director of Strategic Development, Orla Carroll emphasised –
“We are working in close partnership with both Clare and Limerick local authorities and will be developing appropriate navigation aids and viewing points which will involve some capital investment for both areas. While the Wild Atlantic Way continues to thrive in terms of visitor numbers and awareness, we need to ensure we continue to develop and build on it – and use its growing appeal to spread tourism activity into as many parts as possible.”
