A local boat owner has highlighted the lack of jetty facilities – including electric hook up points, showers, water taps and toilets – available at mooring sites on Lower Lough Erne and around Enniskillen town, compared to those provided on Upper Lough Erne and the Shannon Erne Waterway.

The woman, who wishes to remain anonymous, started boating on Lough Erne two years ago and during this time has noticed a discrepancy between the facilities available on Upper and Lower Lough Erne.

“Once you go past Enniskillen to Lower Lough Erne, there are very little facilities, like electric hook up points and water at the jetties,” she said, adding: “When you go down the Shannon, there’re a lot more electric points that you can hook up to and shower facilities.

“Even around Devenish Island, there’s no electric hook up points, or Dead Man’s Lane [Trory]. At Castle Archdale, there are no facilities on the jetties by any of the mooring sites.”

Commenting that around the island town of Enniskillen, only one mooring location has jetty facilities, the woman said: “As far as I know, the only facilities available in Enniskillen are at the Round ‘O’, but very few boats ever get moored up around there.

“There’s a jetty at the back of the shopping centre [Erneside]. It’s an absolutely brilliant setting, but it’s the same thing – there are no electric hook up points,” she added, explaining that not all boats have generators to run electricity when stationary, or have shower facilities onboard, making overnight mooring difficult when jetty facilities aren’t available.

“There’s loads of mooring spaces at the back of the shopping centre. There’s no reason why there couldn’t be electric hook ups there, or water taps.”

Noting how Upper Lough Erne has more jetty facilities available, the woman said: “We moored at a place just as you go on to the river to go down the Shannon, and there was a toilet block there.

“There were shower facilities, there were electric hookups, there was water provided, so you could stop off there for the night [comfortably].”

“Any boat users that we have met when we’ve went down the Lough, they are saying exactly the same thing.

“People don’t go down the lough as much for overnight stays because of the lack of facilities,” she told this newspaper, acknowledging that this could have a knock-on effect on the tourist trade in the local area.

When The Impartial Reporter contacted Fermanagh and Omagh District Council regarding the lack of facilities at Lower Lough Erne and in Enniskillen town compared to Upper Lough Erne and the Erne Shannon Waterway, a spokesperson said: “This is a matter for Waterways Ireland.”

Pressed for further clarification, the Council had not responded by the time of going to print. When this paper contacted Waterways Ireland about the same issues, a spokesperson replied: “The on-water amenities, are Waterways Ireland’s responsibility. Management of the on-land facilities is with Fermanagh and Omagh District Council.”

The body was unable to give further clarification by the time of going to print.