I regret that I do not know German, so I’m relying on Google Translate, but I thought I’d greet those who have been visiting this site from German-language sites in the past week, mostly to read about the (Ulster) Canal to Clones.
It is good that German visitors are interested in the canal, because I suspect that the German taxpayer will be paying for it. The Greeks may have to borrow to bridge the gap between their taxes (too low) and their public spending, including pay and pensions (too high). Ireland has that problem too, as well as a banking problem, but it is also borrowing to invest … in a canal. A canal that will never meet its running costs, never mind recouping the construction cost, and that will not generate enough external benefits to justify the spending.
Arthur Young wrote this about Irish canals in 1780:
There is such a want of public spirit, of candour and of care for the interests of posterity in such a conduct, that it cannot be branded with an expression too harsh, or a condemnation too pointed: nor less deserving of severity is it, if flowing from political and secret motives of burthening the public revenues to make private factions the more important.
Other news
My comment has still not appeared on the Clones Regeneration Partnership blog.
Irish waterways history 