Barrow tours return to Athy
Clifford and Anne Marie Reid Photo: Aisling Hyland
AN Athy businessman has been successful in his bid for the Barrow cruising barge which ahs been lying idle behind the courthouse for nearly four years now.
This latest benefit to the growing tourism sector in Athy will not be a clod start either, as the man behind the venture – Clifford Reid – has been running a similar, highly successful business on the River Nore in Kilkenny for the last number of years, and jumped t the chance to promote his own home town.
“We only got it last week through a public procurement process from Kildare County Council; we applied for it and was awarded it,” said Clifford.
“It hasn’t really been operational in the last four years, there’s a bit of work to be done, but hopefully we’ll have it running tours for next summer,” he predicted.
“I run the BoatTrips.ie in Kilkenny, and we’ve just finished there for another season, where we run it from April until October.
“I would expect to run something similar for this barge, and the date I have in my head will be for June."
“We will need skippers qualified to drive the boat, but it is seasonal so I can only offer a few months work, but I’d expect to employ maybe four people."
Clifford has ambitious plans apart from the barge and hope to capitalise on the Blueway and new Shackleton Museum.
He added: “I would like to be able to train people up, and would like to start up a sort of boatman school in Athy, and I would like to have it recognized by the ISA (Irish Sailing Association), the governing body for all boats in Ireland.
“I would also like to start a powerboat school, not next year but the year after, and this would be the first such on the Barrow.
“With all that’s going on in Athy with the Blueway and the Shackleton Museum, I would like to make Athy somewhere worth a visit.
“I’d like to thank the local councillors for helping to facilitate this, because the worst thing would’ve been to lose this boat from Athy.
“My main business is still in Kilkenny where the big tourism numbers are, but hopefully it will be able to wash its own face.
“I consolidated my efforts on Kilkenny for Covid, but now want to re-start in Athy".
