Towards a Liffey Valley Strategy Doc. 1 - Kildare.ie

iver is straight and, as such, is ideal for rowing. Many other stretches of the
river are either not straight enough for the required distance, or contain too
much growth to be suitable for rowing.
• Angling – takes place along approximately 80% of the river corridor. Trout and
salmon are the predominant fish species landed. There are seven angling clubs
(with a combined membership of approximately 800 people) who control these
waters, which cover:
- a stretch of the river at Ballymore Eustace;
- the stretch of river between Kilcullen and Pausdeen Bridge (just upstream of
Celbridge);
- a small area at Lucan; and
- a small area at Chapelizod.
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Land based recreation and amenity activities compose a mixture of formal and
informal activities. For example, people may use the Park to play or watch ball
sports, or they may use the park to walk the dog or read a book.
In research undertaken on behalf of Dublin City Council in May 2004 (1) , it was
found that the following activities are undertaken by users of the Park.
Table 6.1 Recreation & Leisure Activities undertaken in Liffey Valley Park (161
respondents)
Activity Most important 2nd most important 3 rd most important
Walking 84% (130 respondents) 3% (5 respondents) 4% (6 respondents)
Walking the dog 0 9% (14 respondents) 2% (3 respondents)
Informal games 0 17% (27 respondents) 13% (21 respondents)
Formal games 6% (10 respondents) 17% (27 respondents) 2% (3 respondents)
Watching sport 4% (6 respondents) 22% (35 respondents) 15% (24 respondents)
Cycling 1% (2 respondents) 9% (14 respondents) 7% (11 respondents)
Sit/read/rest 3% (5 respondents) 12% (19 respondents) 12% (19 respondents)
Passing through 1% (2 respondents) 10% (16 respondents) 32% (52 respondents)
Other 1% (2 respondents) 1% (2 respondents) 13% (21 respondents)
As can be seen, people tend to use the parks for a variety of reasons.
• Walking tracks – Walking is a popular use of the individual parks located along
the River Liffey; and resources such as the Lucan Demense, for example, are
much valued for passive recreation. However, most of the length of the river
does not have any public riverside walking tracks. Furthermore, there is little
pedestrian access across the river. For example between Lucan and Chapelizod
there is no cross-river access. The only major linear walking track within the
study corridor is along the canal.
(1) General user study of the Liffey Valley Park, May 2004. Commissioned by Dublin City Council and undertaken by the
Rural Development Unit of University College Dublin.
OFFICE OF PUBLIC WORKS ERM IRELAND
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