Category Archives: Operations

Let joy …

Posted on Tuesday 11 December 2012 | 2 comments

… be unconfined: Waterways Ireland’s Annual Report for 2011 has now been released [PDF], just in time for the Christmas market.

Why not slip it into the stocking of your significant other?

And now for the results you’ve been waiting for, the most important information in the annual report.

1. What is John Martin’s job title in Ulster Scots this year?

Alas, the boring Chief Executive has triumphed again: we haven’t even got a Cheif. Bring back the Heid Fector!

2. What is his report called? Foreward bae the Heid Fector, Innin wi tha Heid Fector or (the popular favourite) Twarthy words bae tha heid yin?

Alas again, it’s a boring Foreword by the Chief Executive.

3. What is the Ulster Scots for Waterways Ireland?

This is the only interesting part: it’s still Watterweys Airlann in the logo (presumably it would be too expensive to get that redesigned) but Watterwyes Airlan in the text.

I may find some boring bits elsewhere that I can report on later.

 

 

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Posted in Economic activities, Engineering and construction, Extant waterways, Foreign parts, Ireland, Irish waterways general, Operations, People, Politics, Restoration and rebuilding, Sources, Ulster Canal, waterways, Waterways management

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Risk

Posted on Monday 10 December 2012 | 2 comments

Yesterday’s Sunday Business Post had an article headed “Liberty Mutual move to push up business insurance costs” [paywall, alas, but the Irish Times mentions it briefly here. Messrs Liberty don’t seem to say anything about it on tinterweb, but perhaps you may wish to spend longer searching than I did].

Liberty took over a commercial insurance business from Quinn; it feels that “Quinn’s commercial business is unsustainable and under-priced” [SBP].  Accordingly, it is raising prices for many types of business and requiring a minimum premium of €1000 for all commercial policies and a minimum of €5000 in “high hazard trades”.

Furthermore, it is withdrawing altogether from 37 lines of business including:

  • abattoirs
  • children’s activity centres
  • civil engineers
  • contract cleaners
  • fishing trawlers
  • go-karting and quad biking businesses
  • manufacture of paint, varnish and polishes
  • nightclubs
  • public swimming pools
  • riding schools
  • roofing contractors
  • sawmills
  • waste disposal and recycling
  • window cleaning.

This is not of immediate relevance to Irish waterways, at least as far as I can see, although children’s activity centres might include some waterways-based centres. Furthermore, the SBP’s list is not exhaustive and there is the possibility that reductions in competition and higher insurance costs will spread to the waterways (if they haven’t already). Making it more difficult for small new businesses to start up, or existing businesses to survive, won’t benefit the waterways.

Is there a case for tort reform in Ireland?

 

attempt to assess and either eliminate or insure against all risks

 

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Posted in Economic activities, Extant waterways, Ireland, Irish waterways general, Operations, Tourism, Water sports activities, waterways, Waterways management

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Disband Clare County Council

Posted on Sunday 9 December 2012 | 8 comments

In order to save some money, it might be a good idea to disband Clare County Council. Then we wouldn’t have county councillors proposing idiotic projects (joined in this instance by some TDs) requiring vast capital expenditure (which we can’t afford) to produce zero jobs.

More about Ardnacrusha here.

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Posted in Built heritage, Economic activities, Engineering and construction, Extant waterways, Industrial heritage, Ireland, Irish waterways general, Non-waterway, Operations, People, Politics, Restoration and rebuilding, Shannon, Sources, waterways, Waterways management

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Contrasting patterns

Posted on Friday 7 December 2012 | 1 comment

Recorded lock and bridge passages for the first ten months of the year for both private and hired boats.

Hired down, private flat

Hired down, private flat

Because these figures take no account of boat movements that do not use locks, they do not record much private boat usage: sailing, fishing, powerboating, waterskiing and other activities on the lakes.

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Posted in Economic activities, Extant waterways, Ireland, Irish inland waterways vessels, Operations, Shannon, Sources, Tourism, Water sports activities, waterways, Waterways management, Weather

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Shannon private boats

Posted on Friday 7 December 2012 | Leave a comment

Recorded lock and bridge passages for the first ten months of the year.

Shannon private boats 2003–2012

Shannon private boats 2003–2012

In almost every year, the last two months, November and December, saw far more private boats than hired boats moving.

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Posted in Economic activities, Extant waterways, Ireland, Irish inland waterways vessels, Irish waterways general, Operations, People, Scenery, Shannon, Tourism, Water sports activities, waterways, Waterways management, Weather

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Shannon hire business

Posted on Friday 7 December 2012 | Leave a comment

Recorded lock and bridge passages for the first ten months of the year.

Shannon hire trade 2003–2012

Shannon hire trade 2003–2012

I’ve used the first ten months because so far I have 2012 figures for only the first ten months. In previous years, only once did the number of hire passages in November and December exceed 100, so the total for any year is not very different from that for ten months.

I would like to know why there has been such a long decline.

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Posted in Economic activities, Extant waterways, Foreign parts, Ireland, Irish inland waterways vessels, Irish waterways general, Operations, People, Shannon, Tourism, Water sports activities, waterways

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The Recreational Vehicle Rights Campaign

Posted on Friday 7 December 2012 | Leave a comment

In February 2011 I drew attention to the discrimination against the owners of camper vans and to the attempts of the RVRC, the Recreational Vehicle Rights Campaign, to end this discrimination:

We seek the provision of free facilities for camper-vans. We want a cross-border body of our own, RVways Ireland.

We have adopted Dana Lyons’s song RV as our anthem; you can listen to it free here (and while you’re at it see the animations of his best-known song here).

But things have got worse: Waterways Ireland has made up new signs specifically aimed at camper vans, forcing them to park in outer darkness, away from the loos and the floating white plastic whatsits.

Discrimination!

Discrimination!

We are not consoled by the suggestion that there is no discrimination because Waterways Ireland is banning the floating white plastic whatsits from the same area. They at least can float, but camper vans should not be surrounded by water and ducks.

Camper, water, ducks

Camper, water, ducks

 

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Posted in Ashore, Built heritage, Drainage, Economic activities, Extant waterways, Ireland, Irish waterways general, Operations, Tourism, Ulster Canal, waterways, Waterways management, Weather

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Water levels

Posted on Thursday 6 December 2012 | Leave a comment
Meelick Weir today

Meelick Weir today

Almost level.

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Posted in Ashore, Built heritage, Drainage, Engineering and construction, Extant waterways, Industrial heritage, Ireland, Non-waterway, Operations, People, Politics, Shannon, waterways, Waterways management, Weather

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Where are the boats?

Posted on Thursday 6 December 2012 | Leave a comment

Learned Readers will be aware that you can moor cheaply for the winter in a Waterways Ireland Shannon harbour; see Marine Notive 111/2012 about half way down this page.

Now, anyone paying commercial rates in a Shannon marina will tell you that WI’s charges represent extremely good value: cheaper even than a year’s canals permit.

But I have noted recently that there seem to be only four boats in Dromineer for the winter). Pottering about today, I found Portumna Castle Harbour deserted.

Portumna Castle Harbour December 2012

Portumna Castle Harbour December 2012

Terryglass had more boats, but most of them are on the county council’s jetty with only seven on the Waterways Ireland extension.

Terryglass December 2012 03_resize

Terryglass December 2012

There were only four boats on the west bank below the bridge in Portumne. There were a few more in Connaught Harbour, but all in all the numbers were lower than I had expected. And I don’t think they’re in Shannon Harbour, which seemed to have fewer boats than usual.

So have boat-owners found that their insurers won’t cover them if they are not in supervised marinas, or out of the water, for the winter? Are private marinas, especially those that can haul boats out of the water, more crowded than usual? Or has the number of boats decreased even more drastically than I had imagined?

I don’t know. Readers’ observations welcome.

 

 

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Posted in Economic activities, Engineering and construction, Extant waterways, Ireland, Irish inland waterways vessels, Operations, Shannon, Water sports activities, Waterways management

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Waterman, spare that tree!

Posted on Thursday 6 December 2012 | 3 comments

I and others have commented on WI’s cutting of trees along the banks of the Grand Canal. One aspect that didn’t strike me until today is that, if you didn’t remove waterside trees, you wouldn’t be able to insert new mooring posts.

Above Lock 34

Above Lock 34

Looking back up from the lock

Looking back up from the lock

 

Close-up of reed-cutting tractor

Close-up of reed-cutting tractor

 

Below Lock 34

Below Lock 34

Compared with the old black and white bollards, the new lack a certain je ne sais quoi, but I suppose they could be painted if people paid up.

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Posted in Ashore, Built heritage, Economic activities, Engineering and construction, Extant waterways, Ireland, Natural heritage, Operations, Scenery, waterways, Waterways management, Weather

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