BY CRONAN SCANLON
A CONSORTIUM of international businessmen has paid almost nine million euro has for fishing and shooting rights along a stretch of Donegal's top Atlantic Salmon river.
It was confirmed to the Donegal News yesterday (Thursday) that the world famous Cloghan Lodge Fishery in Glenfin was sold last month for a sum in the region of £6.5 million Sterling (8.75 million euro).
The new owners plan to turn the old Lodge and estate in to an "up market" international fishing and hunting attraction which would give the area a massive tourism boost. The fisheries is home to the famous Salmon Leap on the upper River Finn as well as 25,000 acres of shooting ground and 100 square miles of waterways. It has been owned and run by the Wilde family for the past 25 years. The River Finn is regarded as one of the richest Atlantic salmon fishing rivers in the world.
Meanwhile, speculation was rife yesterday that members of the pop band Simply Red have agreed to sell their fishing rights to an adjoining stretch of the Finn near Ballybofey.
Millionaire stars Chris DeMargary and Mick Hucknall are reported to have sold the fishing rights to their stretch of the salmon rich Finn to a Northern Ireland based businessman.
The Cloghan estate was bought 25 years ago by popular Englishman, Mr David Wilde, who is married to a Castlefin woman. The estate will now be run by Mr Wilde's son John who will continue to live in Cloghan Lodge with his wife Martina (nee Marley) and their three young children.
Mr John Wilde told the Donegal News that his family were "fairly happy" with the multi million euro sale and says the new owners will exploit the massive potential the fisheries have.
"The new owners have fairly big plans to turn the estate in to an upmarket venue for sports people who are interested in fishing and shooting. We could never harness that potential because we simply did not have the money at our disposal," he explained.
He said there will probably be a major extension built on to the 90 year old twelve bedroom Lodge which is nestled in woods next to the Salmon Leap.
He continued: "this is not their first venture in to this area of business and they are very interested in creating local employment".
Mr Wilde said they advertised the fisheries in British and Irish hunting and fishing magazines last year with a guide price of £5.6 million Sterling. He would not confirm or deny local reports that they had pocketed £6.5 million Sterling from the sale.
His father, David, made international headlines in the early 1990s when he was jailed for one month following a legal dispute over fishing rights with the Mackey family who owned the neighbouring Glenmore Estate.
"The Mackey's wanted the fishing rights to be very exclusive for a privileged few and did not want the ordinary local fisherman on the River," Mr Wilde claimed.
"They also wanted the Salmon Leap closed down and it ended up with my father in prison for one month because he was fighting for the rights of people.We eventually won the case in the Supreme Court and Mackey was out of pocket to the tune of £1.75 million Irish punts".
He also accused Glenmore Rivers Ltd, owned by popstars Mick Hucknall and Chris DeMargary, of "going down the Mackey road" and trying to undercut them.
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