Paddling your own canoe

John j. fallon (retired fishery's officer with ESB) and Colum McCrann (retired Mechanical Supervisor, Lanesborough), paddled a canoe from Enniskillen to Mullingar recently. The 10-day sponsored canoe paddle started in Enniskillen and they were seen off by the Chairman of Fermanagh District Council, John O'Kane. The two also carried with them a gift of friendship from the people of Fermanagh and Enniskillen to the people of Mullingar.

The full itinerary involved the paddlers coming down Lough Erne, across Erne-Shannon Canal to Leitrim, and paddling on down the Shannon to Lanesborough, then pushing the canoe by road to Ballymahon and finishing the journey by paddling via the Royal Canal to Mullingar - a total distance of 130 miles. The 16-footlong canoe is made from Canadian cedar wood, is based on a Canadian design and was made by the committee.

The National Peatlands Park Committee in Strokestown organised a 10-day canoe paddle to highlight their aim, which is to establish a National Peatlands Park from the cut-away Mountdillon bogs of Bord na Mona, and also raise some funds for charity - half the proceeds of the paddle will go to the Hospice organisation in the Republic and the McMillan Trust in Enniskillen.

John J. Fallon, committee secretary, says it is a huge area, which is open to the public - in excess of 18,000 acres on the perimeter of Roscommon Town, Strokestown, Tarmonbarry, Lanesborough and Ballymahon, and also near Athlone and Longford Town. The committee is further trying to secure a commitment from the Government that this bog land remains in state ownership. Over the past six years, in excess of €30,000 has been spent in pursuit of the aims of the committee. A study of the flora, fauna and topography was completed and published last year by the Department of Rural Resources Management at University College Dublin. The book which resulted is titled 'A Long Lived Wilderness' and is available in bookshops. A further study has now commenced which will draw up a blueprint for a National Park, again headed by the team at UCD.