Dublin to Longford stretch of Royal Canal to be reopened by 2006

The Royal Canal will be reopened from Dublin to Ballymahon in Co Longford next year and all the way to the Shannon in just over two years' time, a waterways conference at Lough Ree was told yesterday.

Addressing the 50th anniversary conference of the Inland Waterways Association of Ireland (IWAI), Mr John Martin, chief executive of Waterways Ireland, said the reopening of the Royal Canal would allow navigation between the Dublin docklands and the Shannon lakes. It would be a key driver of rural development through receipts from tourism, he said.

The conference was also addressed by the Minister for Community, Gaeltacht and Rural Affairs, Mr Ó Cuív, who launched a new voluntary code of practice and certification for those using motor cruisers.

Commenting on the timescale for the reopening of the Royal Canal, Mr Martin said Waterways Ireland - a North/South body set up under the Belfast Agreement - was aiming to have the remaining low road bridges at Ballymahon and Abbeyshrule removed by the end of the current National Development Plan 2000-2006.

Experience had shown, particularly in relation to the reopening of the Ballyconnell-Ballinamore canal which links the Shannon and Erne waterways, that since it reopened in 1994 considerable tourist income had rejuvenated local towns and villages and been a considerable catalyst for rural development.

Mr Martin also said Waterways Ireland was assisting in the studies and preparatory work for the reopening of the Ulster Canal, a 93-kilometre canal which links the Erne navigation system to Lough Neagh. The IWAI has recently applied for European funding for the first phase of the Ulster canal between Lough Erne and Clones in Co Monaghan.

The canal, which was closed in 1929 and drained in 1931, is still largely intact and has been the subject of three cross-Border studies in recent years.

However, while Mr Martin maintained the canals could rejuvenate some of the remotest villages in Ireland, Mr Brian Goggin, outgoing editor of Inland Waterway News, criticised the proliferation of bungalows, which he said "littered" the waterway, particularly along the Shannon at Ballina in Co Clare. While the view of his boat in the river was undoubtedly a bonus for the householders, he maintained the view of their houses from his boat was "an eyesore".

Mr Angus Levie, of Shannon Castle Line, based on Lough Derg in Co Clare, said hire boat companies do their best in training hirers to drive responsibly, but there were problems with the behaviour of private boaters too.

Because of the size and power of private cruisers, waves of up to four feet could be created which were anti-social and dangerous.