Enniskillen could be the home of a new water attraction with the news that the people behind a watersports and activity centre just outside Belfast are looking to develop another one at Castle Island in Enniskillen.

Peter Boyle, CEO of Argento and the man behind Let’s Go Hydro is hoping to invest £250,000 over five years to bring a similar attraction to Fermanagh.

Fermanagh and Omagh District Council is currently looking for expressions of interest for the lease of the Lakeland Canoe Centre and Castle Island, and Mr. Boyle has confirmed that he has submitted a proposal for the site.

“We are looking at the tender for Castle Island and what we propose to do is a second Let’s Go Hydro in Enniskillen next to the Forum,” explained Mr. Boyle.

Mr. Boyle was involved in work at the island a number of years ago with Erne Paddlers but due to commercial restraints on what could be done with the location back then decided to step away, but he admits they have been keeping an eye on it since.

“We have obviously been watching the island and it has been lying empty and we had spent quite a bit of money at the time renovating the buildings. We had contributed to the cost of getting showers back and the toilets working, fixing the plumbing, painting it all so we are pretty keen to get down there and we would like to run a second branch of Let’s Go Hydro down in Castle Island.”

Although there are still a few issues to be ironed out, Mr. Boyle hopes that people are on “the same page” and that the proposed development would fit in well with the infrastructure that is currently there.

“I think the introduction of these new inflatable parks didn’t exist five, six, seven years age and we hope to come with something that will work in that space, that will be a seasonal business that should be able to work well in that location.”

The Carryduff site currently caters for around 75,000 visitors a year with the Enniskillen site looking to bring in around 25,000 visitors from May to September. However there are a few vital pieces of the jigsaw that need to come to fruition.

“It’s quite a substantial property and also quite a substantial liability and the previous tenant before that he failed as well.

“For us the key piece is the bridge, the bridge is vital and the aqua park is vital.

“Going forward in our tender document, our proposal is we rebuild the bridge to the island. There will be some pod accommodation on the island, wet suit rental, changing facilities. We also want to put a floating cinema where you will be able to sit and watch movies on rubber rings during the summer.

“We now have experience of running a very large visitor attraction in Belfast and we would be hoping to pull people into Enniskillen from Donegal and those that are on their holidays in the west.”

As well as the site at Castle Island, Mr. Boyle said they were also looking at a potential site in Ballyshannon but added that Enniskillen was their preferred option.

Mr. Boyle said they were keen to let people know their plans and that they are determined to make a success of the island as well as being an experienced operator with knowledge of the island and that all in all it will help tourism in the area.

“We would hope to get the Fermanagh up and running and get tourists from the west.

“The aqua park would be a good attraction with the shopping and hope we are a good addition to the tourism infrastructure of the town,” added Mr. Boyle.