Pokémon Go has hit Fermanagh.

Since the UK launch of the location-based augmented reality game last Wednesday, the streets of Fermanagh’s towns and villages have been swarmed with people playing the game which challenges users to catch Pokémon characters in their real world surroundings. 

“It’s really cool to play it with friends and to hang out,” Matthew Ingram, from Ballinamallard told The Impartial Reporter.

As Matthew and a group of friends searched for Pokémon on Tuesday near one of the game’s Pokéstops (the Enniskillen information board on the Diamond), he outlined how the game has been a positive experience so far. “It’s nice to have people come up to you in the street and ask if you’re playing Pokémon. There’s no intimidation, everyone is open and friendly, even if you’re out late at night and come across people coming home from a night out.”

“It’s nice to be outside rather than stuck in your room playing a game, and the game requires you to walk long distances,” added Kayla Burns.

How Pokémon Go works

As game players move around, their smartphone will vibrate to let them know they are near a Pokémon. Once they have encountered a Pokémon through their phone’s camera, they must take aim on their smartphone’s touch screen and throw a Pokéball to catch it.

Pokéstops are generated based on points of interest in the real world. In the game, players get items from the Pokéstops that help them catch more Pokémon.

Pokégyms are also based on points of interest in the real world. The gyms are virtual battle arenas where players can take on other people’s Pokémon for control of an in-game tower and be rewarded with in-game currency.

Pokéstops in Enniskillen include:

the Methodist Church,

St. Macartin’s Church,

St. Michael’s Chapel,

Fermanagh House,

the Lakeland Forum,

the spider’s web in the Fourm play park,

the Enniskillen Welcome sign,

the Rotary Club stone,

the Clinton Centre,

the Round O Bandstand,

Forthill Park gates,

the Thomas Plunkett Clock on Forthill

and the Regimental Memorial.

Enniskillen Castle is one of the Pokégyms.

Meanwhile, Ballinamallard Methodist Church and Irvinestown Presbyterian Church are also Pokéstops. The less built up an area, the less Pokémon will be present. 


Asda car park is reportedly a Pokémon hot spot.

Businesses and other premises can apply to become a Pokéstop and, across the world, many local businesses which are Pokéstops have come up with innovative Pokémon-themed sales pitches in order to attract more customers.

The game is a Japanese product but the Japanese launch was delayed until today (Friday) due to leaked details of McDonald’s sponsorship of the game. The fast-food chain is expected to be the first paying sponsor of the game, with the 3,000 McDonald’s restaurants in Japan to be turned into Pokémon gyms. It is expected to be the first of many commercial partnerships to roll out globally.

In the space of two weeks there has been a stampede of hundreds of people through New York’s Central park when a rare Pokémon appeared, prompting the following tweet:

In addition a man has reportedly walked off a cliff, a driver in the West Midlands was fined after being spotted playing at the wheel, players have been lured to locations by other Pokémon players and have been robbed, and a teenager has been shot dead in Guatemala while searching for Pokémon characters.


According to Matthew, “The craze will die down but not for the core fan base like myself who have been Pokémon fans since the nineties.”