Category Archives: Politics

The Rideau Canal

Posted on Wednesday 26 December 2012 | Leave a comment

The Cedar Lounge Revolution has an article about those who worked on the construction of the Rideau Canal in Canada in the 1820s and 1830s. Readers will, of course, recall that Charles Wye Williams compared the Rideau and the Shannon in his 1835 […] speech on the improvement of the Shannon: being in continuation of the debate in the House of Commons, 12th May, 1835, giving a comparative view of the navigation of the Rideau Canal, in Canada, and the River Shannon in Ireland, with observations on the value of a connection by steam packets, with British America.

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Posted in Ashore, Built heritage, Charles Wye Williams, Economic activities, Engineering and construction, Extant waterways, Foreign parts, Industrial heritage, Ireland, Operations, People, Politics, Restoration and rebuilding, Shannon, Sources, Steamers, The cattle trade, waterways, Waterways management

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Down wid da kidz ..,.

Posted on Wednesday 26 December 2012 | Leave a comment

… in da hood.

I have heard of Twitter, which I understand to be a sort of news service for folk whose attention span is less than that required to read more than a single paragraph of prose. I understand too that some of those enjoying short-term fame use Twitter to publish their, er, thoughts to the world.

It is therefore relatively surprising to find that respectable organisations use it, albeit to publicise their less significant activities, as with this use by Waterways Ireland. WI may have assumed that association with the government of Ireland would lend respectability to their Tweetage, but if so they were, I fear, mistaken.

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Posted in Ashore, Economic activities, Politics, Sources, Waterways management

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SESIFP

Posted on Tuesday 18 December 2012 | Leave a comment

Read about the draft Strategic Integrated Framework Plan (SIFP) for the Shannon Estuary here. You can comment on it up to 15 February 2013.

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Posted in Ashore, Built heritage, Charles Wye Williams, Drainage, Economic activities, Engineering and construction, Extant waterways, Forgotten navigations, Industrial heritage, Ireland, Irish inland waterways vessels, Natural heritage, Non-waterway, Operations, People, Politics, Restoration and rebuilding, Scenery, shannon estuary, Sources, Steamers, The cattle trade, The fishing trade, The turf trade, Tourism, waterways, Waterways management

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An abandoned section of the Royal Canal

Posted on Friday 14 December 2012 | Leave a comment

Here is a page about a plan to route the Royal Canal through Kinnegad.

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Posted in Built heritage, Drainage, Economic activities, Engineering and construction, Extant waterways, Forgotten navigations, Industrial heritage, Ireland, Operations, People, Politics, Sources, waterways, Waterways management

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No Heritage Council grants this year

Posted on Thursday 13 December 2012 | 1 comment

Heritage Council Grant Programme Suspended for 2013:

In 2012 the Heritage Council was in a position to allocate €1.4 million to 273 public projects across Ireland supporting jobs and improving the quality of our tourism product now and for the long term. Regrettably, due to additional budget cuts from the Dept. of Arts, Heritage & the Gaeltacht for 2013, the Heritage Council will not be in a position to advertise grants for the coming year. This is the first time since the Heritage Council was established in 1997 that it will be unable to allocate funding for the wider heritage sector and we will be working to see that this situation is reversed for 2014.

Core aspects of our national heritage infrastructure, including the Heritage Officer Programme, the Irish Walled Towns Network (IWTN), the Irish Landmark Trust, and the National Biodiversity Data Centre (NBDC) will continue to receive some level of support. Funding for the 2012/13 REPS4 Traditional Farm Buildings Grant Scheme, which is funded by the Dept. of Argiculture, Food & the Marine will not been affected.

The Council had conducted a strenuous and successful campaign to ensure its own survival, as I noted back in November.

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Posted in Ashore, Built heritage, Economic activities, Extant waterways, Industrial heritage, Ireland, Natural heritage, Non-waterway, Operations, People, Politics, Restoration and rebuilding, Tourism, Waterways management

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WI and NAMA

Posted on Tuesday 11 December 2012 | Leave a comment
From WI's annual report for 2011

From WI’s annual report for 2011

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

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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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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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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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DAHG

Posted on Wednesday 5 December 2012 | Leave a comment

I thought I should troll on over to the website of the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht to see if they had anything to say about the budget.

I looked straight away at the News & Recent Publications section on the front page. But I was taken aback to see that the department has not had anything to say since 15 May 2012, which is the date of the most recent addition to the section. Using the menu on the left, I find that the ministers have made no speech since October 2011 (not that I’m complaining, of course). There have been press releases, but the most recent consultation ended in March 2012.

It really is a god-awful website. DAHG needs to hire a couple of twenty-year-old interns who have some idea about tinterweb.

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Posted in Ashore, Built heritage, Economic activities, Industrial heritage, Ireland, Irish waterways general, Natural heritage, Operations, People, Politics, Restoration and rebuilding, Scenery, Sources, Tourism, waterways, Waterways management

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