Category Archives: waterways

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

Tagged department of arts heritage and the gaeltacht, Heid Fector, Ireland, twarthy words, Ulster Scots, Waterways Ireland

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

2 Comments

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

Tagged activities, insurance, Ireland, Operations, risk, tort, waterways

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.

8 Comments

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

Tagged Ardnacrusha, canal, Clare, ESB, flow, hydroelectric, Ireland, Operations, Shannon, waterways

The 14′ liveaboard

Posted on Friday 7 December 2012 | Leave a comment

Link.

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Posted in Economic activities, Extant waterways, Foreign parts, waterways

Tagged bermouthes, canoe

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

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.

1 Comment

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

Tagged boats, bridge, Ireland, lock, Operations, Shannon, waterways, Waterways Ireland

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

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

Tagged boats, bridge, flow, Ireland, Operations, Shannon, vessels, waterways, Waterways Ireland

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

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

Tagged boat, boats, bridge, canal, cruise, hire, IBRA, Ireland, Operations, Shannon

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!

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.