The canal to nowhere
Waterway restoration may take longer than it took to create the 19th-century route
A LANDMARK project to restore a 13km section of cross-border canal, launched 14 years ago, has resulted in only 2.5km being completed, and now the Taoiseach has been asked to intervene.
Nearly a decade and a half since the announcement of an agreement between Ireland and the UK to bring the Ulster Canal back to its former glory, more than 80% of the canal has not been restored despite an impressive body of reports and studies.
The Ulster Canal is a disused waterway which runs through parts of counties Armagh, Tyrone, Fermanagh, Cavan and Monaghan.
Completed between 1825 and 1841, it originally linked Lough Erne to Lough Neagh but operated for less than a century before it closed completely in 1929.
The restoration of the canal was seen in 2007 as providing an opportunity for the neglected waterway to emerge as a key symbol of warmer cross-border relations, with tourism and recreation at the heart of the project.
Waterways Ireland, which has been charged with restoring the canal, is an all-Ireland body which receives 85% of its funding from the Irish government and 15% from the North.
It is accountable in both jurisdictions and has conducted projects across both sides of the border.
Though most of its work has happened in the southern parts of the
Ulster said Yes, but planners say No
canal, some work has taken place on the border.
However, to date, with just 2.5km restored so far, it looks as though it will take longer to rebuild the canal than the 16-year timeline of the original project.
Responding to questions by
Fianna Fáil TD Éamon Ó Cuív, Heritage Minister Malcolm Noonan revealed that while Ulster has said Yes to the canal, the planners are still saying No.
The Galway West deputy suggested that the Shared Island Unit project: Heather HumphreysHumphreys, Waterways Ireland’s John Boyle and Josepha Madigan visit the works in 2018
of the Department of the Taoiseach could help speed up the painfully slow progress on the project.
The Carlow-Kilkenny Green TD said there had been extensive engagement in recent weeks at a very senior level between his
department and officials in the Department of the Taoiseach.
Mr Ó Cuív expressed the hope that the Taoiseach’s political heft might see the canal being reopened more speedily.