Coachford welcomes visitors from all over the world.
The World Feeder Fishing Championships will take place on the River Lee at Nadrid Coachford on July 19th and 20th. The new Greenway will be the main venue for most of the teams and spectators are invited to view the fisherman in action. 25 countries are taking part in the competition and hotels and B&Bs are full up all around the area. The Public houses in the village have music lined up for the weekend of the competition; the welcoming committee for the championships are busy decorating the village with buntings and the flags of the participating countries. Chairperson of the Community Council, Deirdre O’Donovan said, “ we are delighted that the World Championships are coming to the village, It’s a huge boost for the area and is giving everyone a sense of pride in our village, the river and the Lee Valley. We are asking everyone to make the visitors from the 25 countries feel very welcome and offer them a Cead Míle Fáilte. We hope the championships are a great success for the organisers and that we see many more events like this on the river. These international competitions are very welcome to the economy of the village. The businesses in the village have invested in the championships and are looking forward to a bumper July and are also looking ahead to many more similar events in the coming years. I would like to pay tribute especially to Tommy Lawton of the NCFFI for helping to bring this world event to Coachford and to the Innniscarra Lake Tourism Development Committee for developing the venue”.
On Thursday July 17th, the official opening of the World Championship takes place in Coachford. The teams will gather at the square in the evening and there will be a parade of nations through the village to the GAA complex where the official opening will take place. The Championships will start at 7.00am on Saturday morning and will finish each day at around 4pm. The Closing Ceremony and awarding of medals takes place again in Coachford on Sunday July 20th in the GAA complex. A gala dinner is planned for the teams and officials in the Lee Valley Golf and Country Club for that evening. This is a huge event for the area with over 200 competitors, 150 team officials 75 stewards and over 300 supporters expected to visit the area over the weekend of the championships and it will certainly put the fishing facilities that Coachford and the wider area have on the international angling map and I believe that this will have a long reaching impact on Fishing Tourism for the area.” .
Greenway a great success
The new Coachford Greenway walk along the northern banks of the river lee has been hailed as a great success by all those who took part in the first family walk on the 6km route last Sunday. Over 150 adults and children turned up to walk the new greenway and to raise funds to decorate the village in advance of the world Fishing Championships which are being held on the river later this month. The walkway was developed to create a new amenity for the area and to become a state of the art venue for the World Fishing Championships and for visiting fisherman to the area in the coming years. This beautiful flat walking route has stunning views of the River Lee, Farran Woods and Rooves Bridge. It was developed by the Inniscarra Lake Tourism development company with the assistance of the Avondhu Blackwater Partnership, the ESB, Cork County Council, Inland Fisheries Ireland, Tourism Ireland and the National Course Fishing Federation of Ireland. Chairman of the Inniscarra Lake Tourism development company, Matt Sheehan said “ We were delighted that this walk and venue for the championships has turned out so well, A lot of people have worked very hard to bring the project to this stage and we are very grateful to all of them. There were many times during the last three years that we doubted if this could be done but thankfully it has been and seeing the huge number of families using it today makes all the hard work worthwhile”.
The World Fishing Feeder Championships are coming to Coachford on July 19th and 20th and a week long schedule of events is planned to entertain the visitors and show to them what the area has to offer. There will be teams from 26 countries coming to the area to fish on the River Lee. Many more will come to support their teams and to watch this spectacle. Sky Sports will be covering the event and will be filming in the area. And this is only the start. It is estimated that the stretch of water between Carrigadrohid and Inniscarra dams will host many more international matches each year. A parade of Nations through the village of Coachford is planned for Thursday July 17th. Irish Dancing and an underage hurling match will be some of the activities on offer to portray the culture and sporting traditions of the area. Coachford is rich in heritage and offers a lot to those visiting the area. Visit http://www.acrheritage.info/ for more information.
Fishermen from all over the world are visiting Coachford to test the waters and the facilities in advance of the World Fishing Feeder Championships scheduled for July 19th and 20th. The village is buzzing with excitement as plans are being put in place for the event in seven weeks time. Local competitions are being run throughout June and this is offering the organisers a chance to iron out any problems that may arise before the major event in July. Many of the International teams have already visited the site to view the stretch of the River Lee that the competition will be taking place on and to book their team accommodation. Deirdre O’Donovan, Chairperson of the Community Council said “the world championships are a great opportunity for Coachford and for the Lee Valley. The 26 countries taking part will have at least ten people on each team. They will also bring their own supporters to the event and many Irish fishermen will also be coming to the area to view the championships and to act as stewards for the event. We are expecting huge crowds of visitors to our village and to the beautiful stretch of river that is being used to hold the competition. Accommodation in the area is at a premium even at this early stage and the pubs, restaurants and shops are gearing up for a bumper summer. Coachford are preparing to welcome all the contestants, their supporters and the organisers to our village for the week leading up to the event and we are working with the National Course Fishing Federation of Ireland in orgainsing the opening ceremony and other events throughout the week.”
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