Lough Swilly Junior Angling Club will host the All-Ireland Junior Angling Championships in Rathmullan this weekend.

Around 20 anglers will leave the pier at Rathmullan at 9 am on Saturday and will return around 5 pm.

Looking ahead to the event, Lough Swilly Junior Angling Club Chairman, Charlie Devlin, said a lot of work has been done behind the scenes in preparation for the under-16 and under-21 national championships.

“We are delighted to have secured these championships again, having hosted them previously in 2021 for the first time. The event will be headquartered once again at the Station House Hotel in Letterkenny. Along with raising the profile off the sport two years ago, it also helped the local economy,” he commented.

“In 2021 four of the six anglers who represented Ireland in the world junior championships held in Portugal were from our own club, so the championships were a massive success for us in every way,” Mr. Devlin added.

“We’re really looking forward to the weekend. It’s a great platform for our young people to show the skills that they have been working so hard on all season, and I wish them all the best of luck. We’ll have twelve local anglers competing and there also anglers traveling from Cork, Dublin and all over Ireland. It looks like the weather is going go be kind to us which is great. For those at a loose end on Saturday afternoon, they should head for Rathmullan around five o’clock and see the anglers who will be representing Ireland and competing at international level in the future,” the chairman said.

“We have been fortunate to receive great support from local businesses in terms of sponsorship donations and we extend our sincere thanks to them,” he added.

Pointing out that Lough Swilly Junior Angling Club will host the All-Ireland Junior World Championships in 2024 at Rathmullan, Mr. Devlin went on: “We were so thorough with our organisation of the national juniors in 2021. That’s the reason we are hosting the nationals this year and that is why we have been offered the worlds next year.”