See And Taste Fermanagh By Water Taxi

In the NI Year of Food & Drink 2016 calendar, May is designated ‘Landscape & Places’ month. What better time for Barbara Collins to introduce a new way to get around the food hotspots of Fermanagh

There’s a new way to get around the food hotspots of Fermanagh - by water taxi! Barry Flanagan does Erne Food Tours on his chauffeur-driven, covered 8-seater boat, which takes in hotels and food producers on Upper and Lower Lough Erne.

They include stop-offs at the Catalina Restaurant at the 5 star Lough Erne resort where Noel McMeel is at the helm, Belleek Restaurant, the Kove at the Killyhevlin and the thatched Watermill at Lisnaskea.

“We have a gorgeous landscape in Fermanagh but we also have some fantastic people making great produce and cooking with it. These tours are a way for people to see all of that in an enjoyable, accessible trip,” says Barry Flanagan.

He has teamed up with Kettyle Irish Foods, Sheelin Brewery, O’Doherty’s Fine Meats and Corleggy Cheeses on Upper Lough Erne and Inishmacsaint Craft Beer, Erin Grove Preserves, Tickety Moo Ice Cream and The Traditional Food Company who make boxty on the Lower Lough.

“People can see the livestock roaming the islands on the Upper Lough tour. We get out on the Lower lough one and toast the saints at some of the monastic islands. Those tours are £50 each and we also do an Islander picnic for £35. They’re already proving really popular,” says Barry.

To book go to www.ernewatertaxi.com

***For more information on things to do and see on our rivers, lakes and canals, A Taste of the Waterways 2016 is produced jointly by Georgina Campbell’s Guides and Waterways Ireland. Featuring independently selected places to eat along all of the the inland waterways managed by Waterways Ireland, this informative guide is available free from tourist information offices in the waterways areas and to download from www.shopwaterwaysireland.org.

For a printed copy, order from http://www.ireland-guide.com/shop or email your name and address to info@reland-guide.com including ‘A Taste of the Waterways 2016’ in the subject line

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Barbara Collins is a freelance food, travel and agricultural writer. A former BBC journalist and Chief Food Writer for Flavour magazine, she now contributes regularly to Countryfile magazine, the Farmers Guardian, the Irish News, FFT and the Irish Mail on Sunday. She is a member of both the UK and Irish Food Writers’ Guilds and splits her time between Belfast and Galway. Barbara also does menu consultancy and copywriting.

@thegoodchinaset