Bike and kayak hire proposal for Athlone Marina

By Rebekah O'Reilly

Proposals aimed at enhancing Athlone’s tourism and recreational amenities through the introduction of combined bike and kayak rental services in the town have been discussed at the latest meeting of the Athlone-Moate Municipal District.

Cllr Frankie Keena brought a motion seeking the council's support to "take immediate steps to seek an expression of interest from interested businesses to operate both a bike and kayaking rental service in the vicinity of Athlone Marina and the greenway".

"The town is progressing really well, we have various landmarks around the town including the castle, Luan Gallery, lovely walks and great shopping," said Cllr Keena. "I would like to provide services to make use of the Shannon and the greenway.

The existing bikes for hire through the town bike hire scheme are not regarded as suitable for longer journeys, including on the greenway.

Stating that he knew the council was looking into securing a bike rental provider along the greenway, he said, to make this service viable year-round, it should be combined with a kayak service. "There is a similar service on the River Liffey," he pointed out.

"I would like to provide services to make use of the River Shannon and the greenway. Location is key, the bike rentals need to be beside the greenway."

The motion received the support of Cllr Vinny McCormack, Cllr John Dolan and Cllr Paul Hogan, who both highlighted the benefit of diversifying the tourist offering in the town.

Cllr Dolan said the council needs to look at how facilities in the town can be enhanced.

"How can we progress this? I fully support this, and I think it's another way of enhancing the whole tourist offering."

"This can improve the user experience as far as what Athlone has to offer," said Cllr Hogan. "As far as bikes and kayaking services, there certainly has been success in other areas.

"People like to do a variety of activities, they like to get in the water to go kayaking, and they like to go cycling."

Mayor McCormack showed his support for the motion, adding that Athlone needs to keep up with tourism demands.

"We need to keep up to speed with what tourists are looking for when they come into a location. A review of our bike scheme is certainly needed. In a similar way, I know myself and Cllr O'Rourke also enjoyed the use of e-scooters when we were in Providence. Anything to improve the tourist offering, and keep it fresh, is positive."

Cllr Hogan and Cllr Dolan both expressed their concerns around the timeline for the progression of the provision of a new bike and kayak scheme, as the written response from the council executive stated that "the District must fully assess the suitability of suggested locations in this vicinity to facilitate the operation of a bike and kayak rental service in advance of progressing to expression of interest".

In response to the discussion, District Engineer Willie Ryan highlighted that the use of Athlone Marina is currently paid for.

"It does require some special consideration in that currently it is a dedicated facility that's available to members of Athlone Marina, and they pay for that facility, and it's secure to them at the moment, so to introduce another commercial activity into that space does require particular consideration.

"We would prefer to put out an expression of interest looking for those who are interested in operating a bike hire service without the kayaking element to it, and at this point to keep them separate."

Funded by the Local Democracy Scheme.