Castle Island at the Lakeland Forum
FERMANAGH District Council looks set to acquire another island in Lough Erne.
If it is successful, it will be the first council-owned island in the Upper Lake.
Currently, the council owns five, all of them uninhabited, all in the Lower Lake, although one of them, Irvine’s Island is on the River Erne in Enniskillen. It is the home of the Lakeland Canoe Centre.
The other four uninhabited islands, all in Lower Lough Erne, are – White Island, Ferney Island, White Island North, and Lustymore.
This week, officers and members were instructed to seek out further details relating to the sale of five-acre Crehan Island, in Upper Lough Erne.
And, they were tasked with exploring funding options with the Northern Ireland Environment Agency.
Robert Gibson, the council’s director of leisure, told the Herald that, acquiring islands in Lough Erne was nothing new.
“Historically, the council has been interested in purchasing uninhabited islands to protect them.”
However, he admitted that, at times, it had been difficult to access funding, with the result that purchasing was not possible, given the present economic climate.
“But, this is being investigated at the moment.”
He also explained that the four of the five islands listed above are managed for the council by the RSPB for their bio-diversity, ‘particularly for the protection of wading bird species’.
Crehan Island, if all goes well, could become the fifth island which the RSPB manages for the council.
Its area manager, Brad Robson explained that, in total, the RSPB manages 40 islands on Lough Erne.
“We own some, we manage four for the council and some are in private ownership, but we have an arrangement with the landowner to manage them on their behalf.”
Crehan Island, the one the council is interested in acquiring, lies of Dernish Island above the bridges on the Lisnaskea-Derrylin road.
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