Angling for the source of coarse fishing

I WAS in Lanesborough in Co Longford the other day and, as I walked across the bridge that connects it to Ballyleague in Co Roscommon, I stopped and looked over the parapet.

Below me was a concrete channel which runs beside the river, and eventually joins up with it. This is the ‘Hot Water Stretch’, internationally famous as one of the top coarse fishing spots in Ireland.

But that day there wasn’t a single person fishing. A glance at the ESB power station beside it explained why. No steam was coming out of the chimney stacks. The power station was not operating. It hasn’t operated for several months due to some technical problems.