Text of email sent today to the Revenue Commissioners press office:
===begins=====
I would be grateful if you could tell me:
– how much marked gas oil was supplied to sellers of diesel fuel along Irish inland waterways in years ending 31 December 2009 and 2010
– what rates of duty applied in those periods
– how much duty was paid by owners of private pleasure craft for each of those years using form PPN1 Mineral Oil Tax Return.
===ends=====
Posted in Ireland, Irish waterways general, Politics
Tagged boats, diesel, duty, engine, fuel, green diesel, Ireland, red diesel, tax
How many Protestants does Waterways Ireland employ in Northern Ireland? Jim Allister MLA has found out; the answer is here.
Posted in Economic activities, Ireland, People, Politics, waterways, Waterways management
Tagged catholic, Ireland, Jim Allister, MLA, protestant, Waterways Ireland
Troll on over to WI’s website where you can download the Draft Marketing Strategy 2011–2016. The current version has no images (thank goodness) — and no (or very few) numbers for tangible outcomes.
The annual marketing spend by Waterways Ireland is approximately €1million per annum with additional funding of approximately €2million being leveraged from other organisations to support the inland waterways sector.
“But what good came of it at last?” quoth Little Peterkin.
“Why, that I cannot tell,” said he, “but ’twas a famous victory.”
Read about the EU’s Waterways Forward project here and download PDFs showing what the Irish participants Waterways Ireland and South Tipperary County Council got out of the project. WI’s project was on the implementation of the Water Framework Directive on the Royal and Grand Canals; South Tipperary County Council’s was about generating a shared vision for the Suir through the River Café project.
Some folk may recognise the canal boat on the WI document. That fella gets in everywhere.
Posted in Built heritage, Economic activities, Engineering and construction, Extant waterways, Forgotten navigations, Industrial heritage, Ireland, Natural heritage, Operations, People, Politics, Suir, Tourism, waterways, Waterways management
Tagged boats, canal, Grand Canal, Ireland, Operations, river café, Royal Canal, Suir, Water Framework Directive, waterways, Waterways Forward, Waterways Ireland
O’Briensbridge, covered here on this site, makes the front page of the Clare Champion this week.
Posted in Built heritage, Charles Wye Williams, Economic activities, Engineering and construction, Extant waterways, Forgotten navigations, Industrial heritage, Ireland, Irish waterways general, Operations, People, Politics, Restoration and rebuilding, Steamers, The cattle trade, The turf trade, Tourism, waterways, Waterways management
Tagged anchor, boats, bridge, capstan, Castleconnell, Charles Wye Williams, Clare, floods, flow, Ireland, Killaloe, Limerick, Lough Derg, Montpelier, O'Briensbridge, Operations, quay, Shannon, turf, vessels, water level, waterways, Waterways Ireland
Valerie Anex’s photos of ghost estates, many on the Upper Shannon and the Shannon–Erne Waterway, are worth a look. Flash is required. Some more of them here, where you can see them in high resolution.
Posted in Ashore, Economic activities, Engineering and construction, Extant waterways, Ireland, Irish waterways general, Operations, Politics, Scenery, Tourism, waterways, Waterways management
Tagged builders, Celtic Tiger, ghost estates, Ireland, Keshcarrigan, Rooskey, Roosky, scenery, Shannon, Shannon–Erne Waterway, Valerie Anex, waterways
… but without a stake through its heart. The Ulster Canal is dead, but it’s spinning in its grave. Its parent department has admitted some of the truth about its funding, but Waterways Ireland will be applying for planning permission for the scheme: there’s enough money for that, but not for digging. Nonetheless, Fine Gael TDs have managed to distract attention from the absence of funding by pointing to the planning application, while Sinn Féin and Fianna Fáil have not realised that a scheme’s benefits should outweigh its costs. Return of the Son of the Ghost of the Bride of the Ulster Canal on view here.
Posted in Economic activities, Engineering and construction, Extant waterways, Foreign parts, Industrial heritage, Ireland, Operations, People, Politics, Restoration and rebuilding, Tourism, waterways, Waterways management
Tagged Anglo-Celt, assets, budget, canal, Cavan, Clones, Dáil, Deenihan, Department of Community Equality and Gaeltacht Affairs, Dublin, Erne, Fianna Fail, Fine Gael, Heather Humphreys, Ireland, lost, Lough Neagh, McGinley, McLellan, minister, Monaghan, Operations, Shannon, Sinn Fein, Ulster Canal, waterways, Waterways Ireland
I go away for a week and suddenly there’s lots of information about the funding of the Ulster Canal …. Happily, I was on the Erne, so I was able to read the Anglo-Celt, the Leitrim Observer and the Impartial Reporter, and was thus able to keep up with the news.
The really extraordinary thing, no doubt the result of an amazing coincidence, is that this sudden access of information comes just as I expect a ruling from the Office of the Information Commissioner on my appeal against Craggy Island’s refusal to give me any meaningful information about the funding of the project.
My last letter to Craggy Island on the subject was a request for an internal review of their refusal; as expected, that too resulted in a refusal, which enabled me to go to the Information Commissioner. You might, nonetheless, be interested to read my letter.
I will comment later on the content of the recent relevations and on how they’ve been spun; happily, Ewan Duffy was not deceived by the spin.
Posted in Built heritage, Economic activities, Engineering and construction, Extant waterways, Foreign parts, Forgotten navigations, Industrial heritage, Ireland, Non-waterway, Operations, Politics, Restoration and rebuilding, Tourism, waterways, Waterways management
Tagged bridge, bullshit, canal, Clones, Department of Community Equality and Gaeltacht Affairs, Erne, FOI, funding, Ireland, lost, Lough Neagh, Operations, spin, Ulster Canal, waterways, Waterways Ireland
Deputy Gerry Adams:
[…] The Taoiseach might update us on other flagship projects such as the Ulster Canal — at least, it was described as a flagship project at the time it was launched. […]
The Taoiseach:
[…] A number of issues were identified which clearly, from any political point of view, would be of interest and benefit to the infrastructure and the economies North and South. The Deputy mentioned some which have been under discussion for a long time. Were we not obliged to pay €3 billion to Anglo Irish Bank for the next ten years, it would be great to be able to tell the Deputy that the Government could now deal with the Ulster Canal or a number of other issues. Unfortunately, that is not the way it is at present. Consequently, from that perspective the Government will continue to commit itself to working diligently in the interests of the development of the economies North and South and, in consequence, of the entire island. […]
[…] Deputy Adams knows we could deal with the Ulster Canal and many other issues in the north west and elsewhere in the country if we did not have this imposition and burden, but that is a fact of life. […]
[Emphasis mine]
[…] The Project Co-Ordinator for the regeneration of the Ulster Canal says he is not concerned about the funding issue. Gerry Darby says he is still confident that the Ulster Canal regeneration is on track.
What is the basis for that confidence?
Posted in Built heritage, Economic activities, Engineering and construction, Extant waterways, Forgotten navigations, Industrial heritage, Ireland, Non-waterway, Operations, Politics, Restoration and rebuilding, Tourism, waterways, Waterways management
Tagged Anglo Irish Bank, canal, Clones, Dáil, Department of Community Equality and Gaeltacht Affairs, Enda Kenny, Erne, Gerry Adams, Gerry Darby, Ireland, Lough Neagh, Operations, Shannon, Ulster Canal, waterways, Waterways Ireland
When in Clones the Minister stated that he had been “warned not to give a commitment to funding” in relation to the redevelopment of the Ulster Canal, although he also remarked that he would be anxious to see the initiative going ahead.
Whoda thunk?
Posted in Economic activities, Engineering and construction, Foreign parts, Forgotten navigations, Industrial heritage, Ireland, Irish waterways general, Non-waterway, Operations, People, Politics, Restoration and rebuilding, Sources, Tourism, waterways, Waterways management
Tagged boats, canal, Clones, Department of Community Equality and Gaeltacht Affairs, Erne, Ireland, Lough Neagh, Operations, Ulster Canal, waterways
Irish waterways history