THIS year’s Festival Lough Erne will go ahead on a “reduced” scale after Fermanagh and Omagh District Council was unable to secure funding from Tourism NI.

A report presented to Council’s Regeneration and Community Committee revealed that organisers of the annual event, which highlights the area’s food and water activities, had an application for sponsorship turned down.

The report outlined how Tourism NI informed Council officers that their Events Sponsorship Scheme in 2017 had a “considerably reduced” budget.

However, a Letter of Offer for £1,100 was received from Waterways Ireland for the water activity elements of the festival. While no suitable alternative funder was identified, the report stated that Council had made provision of £15,000 for the 2017 Festival Lough Erne.

Council officers have recommended proceeding with the event this summer, but with a reduced level of programming and associated marketing activities.

The report proposes, subject to a successful internal business case, to proceed with Festival Lough Erne, within Enniskillen Castle Museum, on Saturday, September 23 and Sunday, September 24.

The event, now entering its third year, has not been without its controversies.

First held in the summer of 2015, it subsequently emerged that the inaugural Festival Lough Erne made a loss of £10,000 after booking The Bay City Rollers and selling just 65 tickets.

Following a bitter row between the inaugural Festival Lough Erne’s committee and FODC, the Council took over responsibility for coordinating and delivering the 2016 festival, as well as providing direct financial support.

Meanwhile, the £15,000 earmarked for the 2017 Festival Lough Erne is just part of a significant investment by the Council in tourism in Fermanagh, outlined in a number of reports to the Regeneration and Community Committee.

A provision of £5,000 has been included in the Council’s estimates for the current year to go towards the Enniskillen 100 Revival, a motorcycle event which will be held at St. Angelo on October 7.

Another report to the Committee recommended that the Council approve funding of £12,000 for Fermanagh Lakeland Tourism Limited to provide marketing and promotional support for Destination Fermanagh activities.

This money will be used to carry out activities to raise the profile of events such as Festival Lough Erne, Fermanagh Endurance Adventure Race (FEAR) and the Enniskillen 100 Revival.

In a further report, Council officials recommend that a total of £35,000 go towards the Lakelands and Inland Waterways Initiative (LIW), made up of a contribution of £20,000 to Fermanagh Lakeland Tourism and a contribution of £15,000 to Waterways Ireland.

The LIW was eatablished in 2009 as a cross-border initiative to promote the central waterways region of Ireland, namely the Erne, the Shannon Erne Waterway and the Shannon.