Tag Archives: Clones

Progress is progressing on the Ulster Canal (it says here)

The Joint Communiqué from the last Plenary Meeting of the North/South  Ministerial Council meeting (18 November 2011) can now be read or downloaded (PDF) from the NSMC website. It has much to say about the Ulster Canal:

Progress on the Ulster Canal is progressing incrementally with the planning process ongoing.

Er … right. That’s it, then. Progress is progressing, eh? Well, I never.

We’ve now had an Inland Waterways Sectoral Meeting (12 October 2011) and a Plenary Meeting, neither of which has said anything about how (or whether) the canal to Clones is to be funded. Why not? Shouldn’t they show us the money?

 

NSMC

The Irish Times says that there is to be a meeting of the North-South Ministerial Council on Friday 18 November 2011, with the A5 road on the agenda. Perhaps there will be some news about how the proposed Clones Canal is to be funded.

The Ulster Canal

A modest proposal here for funding the canal.

Garlic for engineers

Information has arrived from the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht. I have accordingly updated my page about the Ulster Canal and the Infrastructure and Capital Investment 2012-16: Medium Term Exchequer Framework.

The Ulster Canal and the Irish economy

The Irish government has decided that it cannot afford to pay for:

  • a road in the United Kingdom
  • some railway lines in Dublin, Meath and the west
  • a prison in the countryside.

But what of the Ulster Canal? It is not explicitly mentioned in the Infrastructure and Capital Investment 2012-16: Medium Term Exchequer Framework document published on 10 November 2011. It is not clear that the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht will have enough money to pay for it: here is my assessment. In the absence of explicit information from the department, I would welcome information from other sources.

Optimists …

… in Clones.

Ulster Canal abandoned …

… says The Meath Chronicle, looking at events of 1931.

Buried at the crossroads …

… 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.

Funding the Ulster Canal

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.

From the Dáil

Questions – Northern Ireland Issues, Dáil Éireann Debate Vol. 729 No 2 Unrevised

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]

Northern Sound News Details Jul 07 2011

[…] 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?