State to fully fund first phase of canal work

The Government is to provide 100 per cent of the funding for what is being described as the first phase of the reopening of the Ulster Canal - a derelict cross-Border waterway which once linked Lough Erne with Lough Neagh.

Approval to reopen a section linking Lough Erne with Clones, Co Monaghan, was announced by the North-South Ministerial Council on Inland Waterways in Co Cavan yesterday.

Planning for the reopening is scheduled to take four years with construction work on the 3.5 kilometre section to take a further two. The work is expected to cost €35 million (£23.8 million).

While the Government is to provide the construction funding, annual maintenance costs of about €300,000 (£200,000) are to be split between the Irish and Northern Irish administrations.

No date was set for the reopening of the full canal - a distance of some 77 kilometres, about half of which is in either jurisdiction. The go-ahead for the first section was warmly welcomed by Northern Minister for Culture Arts and Leisure Edwin Poots and Minister for Community Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs Éamon Ó Cuív, as well as the North's Minister for Regional Development Conor Murphy.

All three Ministers stressed the successful financial return on investment brought about by the reopening of the Shannon-Erne waterway.

Mr Ó Cuív said it had revitalised "every town and village" along its route, as well Carrick-on-Shannon, the county town of Leitrim.

Mr Poots said the proposals to move ahead with the section between Lough Erne and Clones were "really exciting".

He also welcomed work on a new Waterways Ireland headquarters building at Enniskillen, which the ministers had earlier visited.

He said up to new 80 jobs could be created in what he described as a very beautiful place to work.

Mr Poots paid tribute to Mr Ó Cuív for advancing the Ulster Canal and said he hoped that eventually the Lagan Navigation would be reopened "so that we will be able to connect Belfast right through to the Shannon and right through to Dublin from Shannon".

Mr Murphy said the work was particularly important to Border area where projects like these could become significant economic drivers. The Ministers agreed that Waterways Ireland would appoint a single consortium to design and construct the restoration of the Clones to Upper Lough Erne and the authorities North and South would proceed with compulsory purchase orders. A project team is to report monthly.

Commenting on the decision to reopen just a portion of the canal in advance of the whole scheme, Mr Ó Cuív said there were many unknowns in relation to the project. Objections to the scheme could cause a delay, while any archaeological or environmental findings along the route could add months to the construction timetable.

A 10 per cent overrun on a cost of €35 million was "one thing" but the 10 per cent overrun on the entire project, which had been estimated at €360 million, was completely different, he said.

However, he did not believe there would be large-scale objections to the scheme.

The Ulster Canal was originally opened in 1841. It is 74 kilometres long (46 miles) and has 26 locks. However, it was never very successful as the locks were too narrow for many boats.