River Suck Inland Waterways Branch Host Neighbours

The newly formed River Suck IWAI Branch welcomed the Athlone Branch to Ballinasloe Marina recently. About 25 members in a fleet of more than ten boats of all sizes made the three  hour journey along the River Suck to the town centre to meet local members and officially welcome the formation of the new Inland Waterways Association of Ireland (IWAI) River Suck branch.
It was a great opportunity for everyone in both branches to meet their new neighbouring branch and network with other IWAI members. There was a food and drinks reception to meet the visitors.
Locals Rachel Staunton and Ed Galvin brought their lovely barge into the marina for the occasion. Athlone IWAI Chairperson Ian Craig presented River Suck IWAI Chairperson Graham Bartlett with the Athlone branch burgee and officially welcomed the branch members to the IWAI family.

Graham Bartlett stated: ‘’It was a pleasure to welcome the Athlone IWAI branch to Ballinasloe and we thank them for their kind donation to help get our new branch up and running. It was great to see a large number of boats in the marina and it being utilised to its full potential.”

Senator Aisling Dolan also commented: “John Jones, Waterways Ireland engineer and Foreman for the region David Mills met to discuss access and upgrades in preparation for events taking place this summer. Thank you to the Waterways Ireland team for sandblasting and cleaning the service block area. Many activities are being planned for June Bank Holiday weekend so do pop down to have a look. With IWAI River Suck branch, we plan to make Ballinasloe a key destination on the waterway”.

Cruisers Ireland also visit on Saturday June 18. There will be many Freeman boats visiting Ballinasloe Marina for the group’s inaugural outing, with a barbecue and other events taking place during the day.

For further information, please check out ‘River Suck IWAI Branch’ on Facebook. If you have an interest in the River Suck, boating and developing events at our marina then do get in touch.  Members are very welcome for the River Suck IWAI branch, please go to www.IWAI.ie or send a message on Facebook.