Category Archives: Waterways management

Bertie Ahern

Posted on Friday 27 July 2012 | 2 comments

According to the Irish Times, writing about Clones:

[…] But people are trying hard to turn the tide: cleaning its buildings, promoting its hand-made lace, and hoping that the Monaghan part of the Ulster Canal will be re-opened.

The latter was a promise of former taoiseach Bertie Ahern. Clones is endearingly resistant to trends – it is still the proud capital of Irish country and western music although some admit that the best dancehall is Blacklion’s “ballroom of romance”.

I think Clones must be the last town in Ireland to cling to Bertie’s word.

Oh well, if Bertie says so ….

 

2 Comments

Posted in Built heritage, Economic activities, Engineering and construction, Foreign parts, Forgotten navigations, Industrial heritage, Ireland, Non-waterway, People, Politics, Restoration and rebuilding, Ulster Canal, waterways, Waterways management

Tagged , , , , , , , , ,

Water levels

Posted on Tuesday 17 July 2012 | Leave a comment

Not on the Shannon or on the Erne but on the Mississippi. It seems the level is now 53 feet below the flood level of last May and eight to ten feet below normal.

Leave a comment

Posted in Economic activities, Extant waterways, Foreign parts, Operations, Waterways management, Weather

Tagged ,

Tidal Barrow

Posted on Tuesday 17 July 2012 | Leave a comment

One of the government’s proposed schemes for saving the economy is a bypass of New Ross:

The N25 New Ross Bypass will provide approximately 13.6 kilometres of new road from Glenmore at the eastern border of Kilkenny and crossing over the River Barrow via a new bridge into Wexford.

That means it will cross around here. You should be able to see Glenmore west of the Barrow. The crossing will be in the area of navigation under the authority of the New Ross Port Company.

Leave a comment

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

Tagged , , , , , , , ,

Lasering bridges

Posted on Tuesday 17 July 2012 | Leave a comment

Here is a one-page article from the July/August issue of Engineering Inc, the magazine of the American Council of Engineering Companies. It’s about an American firm called Collins Engineers Inc, of Chicago, which is listing and assessing bridges and some other structures owned by Waterways Ireland. The project will run through 2015. The link relies on Flash, alas; if you prefer a PDF, try this link.

Leave a comment

Posted in Ashore, Built heritage, Economic activities, Engineering and construction, Extant waterways, Foreign parts, Industrial heritage, Ireland, Operations, Restoration and rebuilding, Waterways management

Tagged , , , ,

NSMC latest

Posted on Tuesday 17 July 2012 | 1 comment

The joint communiqué from the latest North-South Ministerial Council inland waterways sectoral meeting, held on 9 July 2012, is here as a web page and here as a PDF.

The exciting bits:

  • WI provided more moorings, sponsored 101 events, maintained the waterways [see below], published its restaurant guide and list of events and continued involvement with the Waterways Forward project
  • WI is developing its budget and business plan for 2012 [isn’t that a bit late?]
  • the NSMC “noted” WI’s annual report and draft accounts for 2011
  • the NSMC allowed WI to sell some stuff
  • WI has thought of some funding options for the Clones canal (but citizens can’t be told what they are). An “inter-agency group”, “set up to examine all possible options to advance the project”, will meet in July; the options “will be explored taking account of fiscal constraints”, although it’s not clear whether the unfortunate members of the “inter-agency group” will do the exploring or whether some more authoritative body, like the Troika, will make the decisions. But as the canal is said to be such a good investment, it may be that a public-private partnership will develop it under the Irish government’s €2 billion stimulus package.

The waterways maintenance part includes the claim that “97.5% of waterways remain[ed] open during the months of April and May”. That depends on how you measure things, though. The summit level of the Royal Canal was closed for almost the whole of that two-month period, so the canal (one seventh, about 14%, of WI’s waterways) was impassable throughout.

 

 

1 Comment

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

Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Absolutely nothing …

Posted on Wednesday 11 July 2012 | 3 comments

… to do with the Clones Canal ….

3 Comments

Posted in Ashore, Economic activities, Engineering and construction, Foreign parts, Forgotten navigations, Ireland, Non-waterway, Operations, Politics, Restoration and rebuilding, Ulster Canal, Waterways management

Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

RNLI on Lough Derg

Posted on Monday 9 July 2012 | Leave a comment

8 July 2012

Lifeboat on the way

Nearly there

Coming alongside the casualty

Helm Colin Knight

Preparing to tow

Under way

Heading for Williamstown

Almost there

 

 

Leave a comment

Posted in Extant waterways, Ireland, Irish inland waterways vessels, Operations, Shannon, waterways, Waterways management, Weather

Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

WI gets tough on the Erne

Posted on Monday 2 July 2012 | Leave a comment

Press release just in from WI, reproduced unchanged

Waterways Ireland has successfully undertaken the prosecution of two boats owners on Lough Erne for breaching the 48 hour mooring Bye-law. The defendants received a caution and undertook to comply with the Bye-laws in the future.

Waterways Ireland communicates regularly with boat owners about the Bye-laws and has produced a publication “Good Boating Guide” advising boat owners of the Bye-laws on Lough Erne.

Having recorded breaches of the 48 hour mooring Bye-laws, Waterways Ireland wrote to the boat owners advising of the breach and after subsequent breaches were noted, Waterways Ireland reluctantly brought the prosecutions under the Bye-laws.

The Magistrate, Mr. Kennedy, commented that “the Prosecutions were properly brought and it is important that people comply with the Bye-laws. “

Brian D’Arcy, Waterways Ireland’s Director of Operations stated “Waterways Ireland had no option but to prosecute following the increasing numbers of local boat owners abusing moorings provided for visiting tourist boats. Waterways Ireland provides moorings free of charge to enable tourists and touring boat owners to access attractions, services, towns and villages. Particularly in Enniskillen, the moorings facilitate the tourism economy as boaters spend in shops and restaurants; reduced access means less income for the town. Waterways Ireland would like to ensure all boat owners are made aware of their responsibilities when using public moorings and do not leave their boats moored in one location on a public mooring for more than 48 hours.”

Comment

I wonder when we’ll see the corresponding prosecutions on southern waterways.

Update

More details in the Impartial Reporter.

Leave a comment

Posted in Economic activities, Extant waterways, Foreign parts, Ireland, Irish inland waterways vessels, Operations, Politics, Sources, Tourism, waterways, Waterways management

Tagged , , , , , , , ,

Enda gets confused

Posted on Tuesday 26 June 2012 | 2 comments

In the Dáil on 19 June 2012, Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin (Cork South Central) complained that there was not enough northsouthery:

[…] We have had good relations since the Good Friday Agreement and there have been good initiatives under the various North-South bodies and agencies that were subsequently established, from InterTradeIreland to the Food Safety Promotion Board and from Tourism Ireland to Waterways Ireland. In the early days, these had concrete, substantive, project-based achievements that delivered considerable momentum. Nothing of that calibre is in evidence currently.

With the British Government and the Northern Executive, will the Taoiseach commit to examining the North-South agenda seriously, in particular the review of North-South bodies, which has been waiting for some time to be signed off on? What are the conclusions of the review and what is the Government’s response to an additional North-South agency?

Taoiseach Enda Kenny (FG, Mayo) replied:

There was no conclusion at the meeting on Friday about additional bodies. Clearly, there were a number of issues outstanding in regard to some of the existing bodies. For instance, the Minister, Deputy Deenihan, committed to working with his counterpart in respect of the continued planning of the Erne Canal, which has been an issue for a very long time. There is no funding for it now, but there is no reason to believe one cannot put in place a strategy and a plan to open it. It would have enormous implications for tourism.

For “Erne” read “Ulster”: the NSMC decided not to extend Waterways Ireland’s remit so Ireland’s most insane current canal proposal is not on WI’s things-to-do list. The Ulster Canal is only rhe second most insane current canal proposal, although there is a new competitor entering the field.

 

2 Comments

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

Tagged , , , , , , , , , , ,

The flash lock at Killaloe

Posted on Thursday 21 June 2012 | Leave a comment

An account of a passage here.

I have been told that the gates will not open (or will not be opened) if the upstream level is higher than the lower by some unspecified amount.

 

Leave a comment

Posted in Economic activities, Engineering and construction, Extant waterways, Industrial heritage, Ireland, Irish inland waterways vessels, Operations, Restoration and rebuilding, Shannon, Steamers, The cattle trade, waterways, Waterways management, Weather

Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,