Coachford

WORLD YOUTH ANGLING

Over 100 local volunteers joined with members of the National Course Fishing Federation of Ireland, Inland Fisheries and international judges to run the biggest event on the river Lee since the building of the dams almost 90 years ago.

The 2017 World Youth Angling Championships run over seven days was a tremendous success. Teams from 14 countries came to the Lee Valley to fish the bountiful waters of the Inniscarra reservoir.

Coachford Village was the HQ for the world event and the hundreds of visitors created a festival atmosphere in the locality. The Greenway was the main location for the fishing championships and was full of young anglers from dawn each day as the teams trained for the big event on Saturday and Sunday. The opening ceremony took place in Coachford on Thursday and each country paraded their flags through the village as local children and families cheered them on. Members of the local camogie and Foróige clubs carried the nations flags and countries names and the Ballingeary Pipe Band led the parade through the village and on to the GAA Hall where the official opening ceremony took place.

The County Mayor, Cllr Declan Hurley accepted each country’s flag and welcomed all the participants to Coachford, the Lee Valley and Cork. When the competition started in earnest on Saturday morning 180 anglers began fishing the river Lee in Coachford and Dripsey and showed the locals the skills of pole and rod fishing as they hauled thousands of fish from the reservoir each day, weighed them and returned them to the peaceful waters at the end of each day. On Sunday evening as the championships came to an end the French team were declared the 2017 World champions.

‘We were delighted the way the whole week went and there was some great fishing on the lake. We are indebted to the ESB and the Inland Fisheries for their partnership and commitment to these championships and to angling on the river. These events are a huge undertaking and we rely on the support of so many people and groups to carry it off successfully. We are fortunate to have some great businesses, community people and volunteers here in Cork to support the events we host on the Greenway.’ Said Tommy Lawton, chief organiser of the World Championships. Maighread Ní Mhurchú, chairperson of the Community Council said.

‘This was a another huge event for the community and once more showed the wisdom of a small group of people who built the Greenway only four years ago and provided the world class facilities to host world championships in Coachford. An event like this has long reaching effects on the economy of the valley. While the World Championships brings a much needed boost to many businesses we are hopeful that many of those who participated in the event over the last week will return to enjoy fishing on the Lee in a less pressurised environment in the future. The Greenway is a wonderful amenity for the locals who use it to walk and enjoy our spectacular river and scenery. It