Anglers angry at damage to Suck fishery

Date Published: 23-Apr-2009

ANGLING enthusiasts in Ballinasloe say that construction work on the M6 motorway is having a huge adverse impact on fishing in the river Suck and there were calls this week on the National Roads Authority (NRA) to ensure that a new salmon fishery at Poolboy be replaced when work on the Ballinasloe/Athlone section of the new road is completed.

The salmon fishery was constructed at considerable expense a number of years ago as part of a compromise deal reached between the Office of Public Works and local fishing interests when the Suck was made navigable into Ballinasloe.

During that phase of development, two renowned salmon fishing areas at Coreen Ford and Reilly’s Ford were destroyed, and to compensate local anglers it was agreed that a new salmon fishery would be created at Poolboy near where a new lock was to be built.

However, six years later anglers in Ballinasloe have been incensed to discover that the new M6 motorway is now crossing the river at exactly the same spot, and they claim that the fishery has been destroyed as a…