COMHAIRLE CONTAE ÁTHA CLIATH THEAS
SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

South Dublin County Council Crest

MEETING OF LUCAN/PALMERSTOWN/FONTHILL AREA COMMITTEE

Tuesday, October 22, 2019

QUESTION NO. 35

QUESTION: Councillor Shane Moynihan

To ask the Chief Executive as to what tourism initiatives the Council is supporting in the Lucan and Palmerstown-Fonthill areas in the next 6 months. 

 

REPLY:

The South Dublin County Tourism Strategy launched in 2015 envisaged the development of a Liffey Valley Cluster featuring the villages along the River Liffey, Palmerstown and Lucan with Lucan serving as the ‘hub’ for the entire cluster. The proposal included a number of options for projects that would interpret and develop a tourism experience in this part of the County.

The Grand Canal / Royal Canal Loop, an interagency project of regional importance led by Waterways Ireland, will have a significant potential impact on the development of the Liffey Valley Custer as envisaged in the South Dublin County Tourism Strategy. The Feasibility and Route Selection Study will be completed in the next month. The Study will then have to be approved by the Executive. Following this, the elected members will be briefed about the recommendations of the Study and the next stage of the process (i.e. planning consent). The date for the briefing will be agreed with the Chair of the Area Committee in due course.

Notwithstanding the recently launched playspace interventions in Lucan Demesne where a play trail has been designed to encourage children to discover the natural world around them and to interact with it, the Lucan Demesne Entrance Proposal aims to upgrade the entrance to the park and mark its significance as an entry point to the Liffey Valley and to Lucan Village. These proposed interventions will improve the facilities in the park for walkers, cyclists, kayakers and visitors to the area.

The Council’s Tourism Events and Festivals Grant, which is advertised twice a year in local press, on the council’s website and through social media, encourages event organisers to consider South Dublin County as a location to host their events. Funding is contingent on the number of out of county and out of country visitors attracted to the event. Since 2018 the fund has supported events such as an international canoeing event on the Liffey and an international female boxing competition, all of which brought national and international visitors to the Lucan and Palmerstown-Fonthill area. It is expected to readvertise this grant scheme in early 2020.

The Council submitted a proposal for Lucan Village to Fáilte Ireland in relation to the Destination Towns scheme on 19 September 2019. This application seeks to put in place steps to help animate Lucan as a visitor destination by developing the story of Lucan, referencing its ancient past and its unique place at the gateway to the valley of the Liffey.