2024 looks like it will be a "crisis year" in terms of cruiser numbers on the Erne-Shannon Waterway. In 2004, 76,000 cruisers travelled the waterway. By 2023, that figure had dropped to 35,000 and up until May this year, the number was less than 30,000. 21 per cent of the drop has occurred in the past five years.
Statistics are collated by Waterways Ireland who take note of the various cruisers passing through lough gates and bridges along the Erne and Shannon rivers. Ballyconnell-based Cavan County Councillor, Damien Brady, said local businesses are predicting 2024 to be a "crisis year" for the sector.
Cllr Brady pointed out how many local people this bad news affects: "The reduction in cruiser traffic is very noticeable in the towns and villages along the Shannon-Erne Waterway," he told Northern Sound, "Waterways Ireland has stated that in 2018, the Shannon alone generated €600m for Ireland and that has a knock-on effect in this region. That was revenue and income and jobs for people and suppliers and this is a spend in our region that we cannot do without."
