Category Archives: Weather

Boats to return to Corbally Branch

Well, canoes, but better than nothing.

PS for “upstream” read “downstream”, as far as I can see.

Waterways Ireland and the cuts …

WI’s tree-cutting on the Barrow.

Royal water (current status)

I have updated my page about Royal Canal feeders with some information provided by Nigel Russell of WI to the An Bord Pleanála oral hearing on the Royal water supply scheme.

Incidentally, the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, WI’s parent department in RoI, was among the (few) objectors to the proposed abstraction of water from Lough Ennell, although it was in favour of ceasing to abstract water from Lough Owel [Inspector’s report pp11–12]. Indeed it seemed to have some reservations about the reopening of the Royal Canal, not on economic grounds but because “some important nature consideration issues need to be fully addressed”.

Preparing for winter

WI at work in Killaloe Novemebr 2012.

Old crane being painted

 

The Marindus weedspraying pontoon. This Marindus may be Marindus Engineering Ltd of Kilmore Quay, Co Wexford

Royal water

In April 2012 I wrote about the proposed supply of water from Lough Ennell to the Royal Canal. I said that

[…] the Lough Ennell proposal had to go to An Bord Pleanála. At any rate, two applications had to be made, one for the water abstraction and the other for the physical works. In practice, the two are being handled as one.

An Bord Pleanála asked Westmeath County Council for some more information; that has now been supplied and a decision is expected by 11 June 2012.

I have just checked An Bord Pleanála’s website for the two applications PW3005 (lodged 9 December 2011) and JA0030 (lodged 7 October 2011); both say:

Proposed decision date not available at this time.

I do not know why decisions are taking so long.

Dept Ag

Big it up for the Lands Branch (who knew?) of the Dept of Ag, which responded immesiately to tell me that the fishing rights in my garden are owned by the Central Fisheries Board, which is called something else these days, so we know it’s much more efficient.

If only the DeptAg folk in charge of Section 46 of the Merchant Shipping (Investigation of Marine Casualties) Act 2000 were as quick to respond as their Lands Branch colleagues.

A Winn for the Grand

In today’s Sunday Business Post Jasper Winn, the paper’s Hardy Outdoor Correspondent, describes a five-day walk along the Grand Canal, from Harold’s Cross to Shannon Harbour. He did it in winter, camping out on the bank overnight despite its being so cold that the canal froze over, and finishing some of his days’ walks in the dark.

The SBP operates a paywall so you may not be able to see the page, but this is the link in case you want to try.

Urination in Co Clare

In County Clare, urination has a long and distinguished history. Here is a piece about one early example: while it was not on inland waters, I hope that the involvement of the Head Pacificator, renowned for his efforts to promote the Shannon, as well as of two authors who provide useful information about the river, will excuse the inclusion.

Buggering up the Barrow

In February 2012 Waterways Ireland published a study of the River Barrow called The Barrow Corridor Recreational, Tourism and Commercial Product Identification Study. I’ve devoted a lot of time to the document and I confess that, although I’m in favour of WI’s conducting these studies, I found this one rather disappointing. The principal problem, as I see it, is that the document just doesn’t hang together: it is not clear how the recommendations derive from the analysis. I also thought that its recommendations on navigation were weak, suggesting a fundamental misunderstanding of the nature of the Barrow.

I haven’t finished putting my thoughts on the subject together because I want to do the study justice, but I have put up six pages about the report, linked from an overview page here. I need to give the navigation page a little more thought; when it’s finished I’ll link it to the overview page and mention the matter here.

Bring back the Black

The Black Bridge at Plassey has been closed since the floods of November 2009. Its reopening seems to have a low priority; I suspect that is because the importance of the bridge in Ireland’s technological, economic, entrepreneurial and political history is not widely appreciated. Here is a page explaining some of the background and suggesting a context within which reopening might be justifiable.