Category Archives: Extant waterways

Tullamore

Posted on Tuesday 28 February 2012 | 2 comments

The Offaly Express has a story about a new Tullamore Dew Heritage Centre, which includes this information:

As part of a wider redevelopment of the area by Tullamore Town Council, visitors will approach the new Centre along a canal-side boardwalk from which they enter a reclaimed and renovated vintage barge which will house the ticket office and a presentation on the local history of the canal produced in association with Waterways Ireland.

Always pleased to see barges being used, of course, but I’d like to know where it will be parked and how that will affect the usable width of the canal. I’m sure that was considered at planning stage, but I can’t find any documents on the ePlanning system so I’d welcome enlightenment from anyone who knows.

2 Comments

Posted in Ashore, Built heritage, Economic activities, Engineering and construction, Extant waterways, Industrial heritage, Ireland, Irish inland waterways vessels, Non-waterway, Restoration and rebuilding, Tourism, waterways, Waterways management

Tagged boats, canal, Dew, Grand Canal, Grant, Ireland, quay, Tullamore, vessels, waterways, Waterways Ireland, whiskey

Clones Canal update

Posted on Monday 27 February 2012 | Leave a comment

I’ve done a precis of developments since Novemebr 2011. There is nothing much new on the page, but it may assist new seekers after truth.

I’ve also given the overview a mild update, but without making major changes to its structure.

I’ve been making three main points about the Clones Canal proposal:

the expected costs are understated
the expected benefits are overstated
there is no funding available.

Just in case anyone from Clones, or from the government, is looking in, I want to point out that I have been shown to be right on two of those points so far.

First, I said that the €35 million cost figure, which was widely used by the project’s proponents, was unreliable. Waterways Ireland has recently said that the cost is now expected to be €38 million + VAT, which I gather is about €45 million. So has the government reassessed the economic case? If it has, it’s not admitting it.

Second, I said that I could not see how the Irish government was going to fund the project. I wrote:

So where is the money to come from? I’ve tried asking the public bodies that should know the answer, but they won’t tell me.

The government now admits that funding was not provided and it is clear that there will be no significant funding (ie enough to pay for construction) before 2014. Incidentally, my appeal against the refusal of information is with the Office of the Information Commissioner: I don’t believe that government should be able to keep matters of funding secret, especially if potential investors might be misled.

We have no result yet that would cast light on the expected benefits, but we do know that the boat-hire business has declined drastically in recent years. If Clones is to prosper, as I hope it will, it will need development initiatives that are easier, faster, cheaper and more effective than the proposed canal.

Leave a comment

Posted in Ashore, Built heritage, Economic activities, Engineering and construction, Extant waterways, Foreign parts, Forgotten navigations, Industrial heritage, Ireland, Operations, Politics, Restoration and rebuilding, Sources, Tourism, Ulster Canal, waterways, Waterways management

Tagged bridge, canal, Clones, department of arts heritage and the gaeltacht, Department of Community Equality and Gaeltacht Affairs, Erne, Ireland, lock, lost, Lough Neagh, Ulster Canal, waterways, Waterways Ireland

Stakhanovite homoeroticism

Posted on Sunday 26 February 2012 | 3 comments

I see in the blatts — well, the Sunday Business Post, actually, although I do realise that other newspapers are read in the servants’ hall — that the Twelfth Lock Hotel at Blanchardstown, on the Royal Canal, is to be sold by public tender on 1 March 2012. No estate agent — the only contact details are for a solicitor and a FRICS FRICI, which means a surveyor (I think) — so there is nothing on tinterweb.

The Twelfth Lock Hotel

The hotel is described thus:

Unique Hotel Opportunity

‘THE TWELFTH LOCK HOTEL’, Castleknock Marina, Royal Canal, Castleknock

Purpose built, 10 Bedroom Hotel, with Loune Bar/Restaurant, private Lounge, Beergarden/Smoking Patio, outer garden and private car park. In unique setting alongside the picturesque Royal Canal Marina.

Older folk will note the link to this story.

I stayed in the hotel once; it was fine. I’ve been in the bar a few times, and noted three things. The first was a range of beers that was wider and better than most Irish pubs serve (which is admittedly not saying much). The second was that the bar food was tasty and served in generous quantities. The third was the mural (I’ve cropped the lower part of the photo to omit the customers) of chaps building the canal.

Twelfth Lock Hotel mural

The hotel is in a wonderful location, off a quiet road but close to the railway, the M50 motorway and the Wonderful O of the junction with the Royal Canal crossing in the middle.

Crossing the Wonderful O

Boat descending the twelfth lock (a double). The building on the left at the top is the hotel

Across the canal are flats is where the Blanchardstown Mills stood; the site has unsuspected depths.

Flats

I don’t really know the status of the “marina”. It seems to consist of a short run of pontoons with gated access. I think it’s a good idea to have such an arrangement; perhaps something similar could be done on the Grand Canal.

The marina (2005)

The marina (2009)

But who runs it and controls the allocation of spaces? I don’t know: although the gateway seems to have Waterways Ireland branding, there is also this sign:

Castleknock Marina sign

Its website doesn’t seem to have changed much for several years and the “How goes it” page, showing progress in raising funding, doesn’t seem to work. There is a hire firm too.

Hire firm

It would be nice if the hotel, marina and hire firm were to continue in operation.

3 Comments

Posted in Ashore, Built heritage, Economic activities, Engineering and construction, Extant waterways, Industrial heritage, Ireland, Irish inland waterways vessels, Operations, People, Rail, Restoration and rebuilding, Tourism, Uncategorized, waterways, Waterways management

Tagged Blanchardstown, boats, bridge, canal, Castleknock, Dunsink, hire firm, hotel, Ireland, marina, railway, Royal Canal, Stakhanovite, Twelfth Lock, vessels

Inland fisheries

Posted on Wednesday 22 February 2012 | Leave a comment

There was an important debate in the Northern Ireland Assembly on this subject yesterday. While the salmon received much of the attention, the state of the Lough Neagh eel fishery was also discussed.

Leave a comment

Posted in Economic activities, Engineering and construction, Extant waterways, Foreign parts, Ireland, Irish inland waterways vessels, Irish waterways general, Natural heritage, Operations, People, Politics, The fishing trade, Tourism, waterways, Waterways management

Tagged eels, fisheries, Ireland, Lough Neagh, Northern Ireland Assembly, salmon, waterways

What? No women?

Posted on Tuesday 21 February 2012 | 1 comment

Here is WI’s page about its corporate policy on Equality.

1 Comment

Posted in Ashore, Economic activities, Engineering and construction, Extant waterways, Ireland, Operations, People, Politics, Waterways management

Tagged canal, equality, Grand Canal, Ireland, men at work, Operations, Waterways Ireland

NSMC

Posted on Tuesday 21 February 2012 | Leave a comment

The joint communiqué issued after the last North–South Ministerial Ccouncil Inland Waterways Meeting, held on 14 February 2012, is available for download here [PDF]. Perhaps the most important part is the set of four recommendations from the review of Waterways Ireland under the St Andrews Agreement:

ST. ANDREWS REVIEW – WATERWAYS IRELAND RECOMMENDATIONS

6. The Council considered four specific recommendations concerning Waterways Ireland and agreed to refer the following recommendations for endorsement to the June 2012 NSMC Plenary:

– Sponsor departments to consider options around the setting up of a Board comprising less than twelve members and to present proposals for consideration at a future NSMC Inland Waterways meeting;

– Sponsor departments to implement as appropriate, through changes to the legislation or other administrative means, a de minimis provision for dealing with Waterways Ireland disposal of a waterway or part of a waterway;

– Sponsor Departments to review the current provisions in relation to Waterways Ireland’s commercial activities to ensure that these are adequate and to report to a future NSMC Inland Waterways meeting; and

– taking account of the current economic and fiscal circumstances, no further action is taken at this time to extend the remit of Waterways Ireland.

Given that British Waterways is to become a trust, with various user representatives on its board, it is hard to see why Waterways Ireland should have no board. I was not convinced by the reasons that Éamon Ó Cuív TD gave me when I asked him about it some years ago.

Leave a comment

Posted in Economic activities, Engineering and construction, Extant waterways, Foreign parts, Ireland, Irish waterways general, Politics, waterways, Waterways management

Tagged board, Ireland, North/South Ministerial Council, waterways, Waterways Ireland

Limerick dredging

Posted on Tuesday 21 February 2012 | 2 comments

The Limerick Post has news here.

2 Comments

Posted in Built heritage, Economic activities, Engineering and construction, Extant waterways, Irish waterways general, Operations, People, Politics, Shannon, Tourism, waterways, Waterways management

Tagged boats, bridge, Clare, dredging, flow, Ireland, Killaloe, Limerick, lock, Lough Derg, Operations, Shannon, vessels, waterways, Waterways Ireland, workboat

Value for money

Posted on Friday 17 February 2012 | 1 comment

Regular readers will be aware that I think the proposed canal to Clones is a bad investment. I thought it might be useful to look for information about other Irish canal restorations to see what they cost and what the return on investment has been. I understand that there was a study of the Shannon–Erne Waterway, but I can’t find a copy on tinterweb (if anyone has one to lend, please get in touch).

I therefore asked Waterways Ireland about the restoration of the Royal Canal:

I would be grateful if you could tell me the cost of the restoration of the Royal Canal, the annual cost of running it and the revenue it generates.

The reply (for which I am, as always, grateful) said:

Restoration of the Royal Canal commenced in 1987.

€37m Capital Expenditure on the restoration project funded through (1) Operational Programme for Tourism 1994-1999 (2) National Development Programme 2000 – 2007 and (3) National Development Plan 2007-2013.

The Maintenance Cost for 2012 is €2.46m.

The revenue generated by the canal in 2011 is not available.

I didn’t really expect that there would be a meaningful figure for revenue. A full assessment of the benefits would cover far more than the (probably minimal) direct revenue; I think such an assessment should be done, but that’s not what really got my attention.

According to Waterways Ireland, the Main Line of the Royal is 146 km long and has 46 locks and many bridges, some of them newly built as part of the restoration. Harbours have been improved, slipways have been provided and service blocks have been built. And all of this was done for €37 million (I don’t know whether that’s in constant prices and, if so, at which year’s rates: I’ve asked a supplementary question).

A canal to Clones would be 13 km long and, according to WI’s final restoration plan [PDF], would have one double lock (staircase pair). Some dredging would be needed on the River Finn and a new canal 0.6 km long would have to be provided; the work at the Finn end would cost €8.5 million altogether. On the line as a whole, work would be required on up to 17 bridges, some major and some minor or private bridges. And there would be a cost for land acquisition, although the Updated Economic Appraisal put that at a mere £1,268,280, a very small portion of the total cost. And then there would be the pumps and pipes to take water from the Erne, pump it to Clones and let it flow back down; it is not clear whether WI would have to pay for the water. And the total cost of this lot would be €38m + VAT, which I am told is about €45 million altogether.

Now, even allowing for the facts that there had been some voluntary and FÁS scheme work on the Royal, that no land had to be acquired and that parts of the canal were in water, I still find it difficult to see how a 13 km canal with one double lock can cost more than a 146 km canal with 46 locks. I have asked WI for a comment, but perhaps readers — especially if any of them are engineers or accountants — would be able to help to explain the mystery. Maybe it’s something simple like a mistake in the figures or maybe I’m missing something about the nature of restorations …. Enlightenment welcome.

1 Comment

Posted in Built heritage, Economic activities, Engineering and construction, Extant waterways, Foreign parts, Forgotten navigations, Industrial heritage, Ireland, Irish waterways general, Politics, Restoration and rebuilding, Sources, Tourism, Ulster Canal, waterways, Waterways management