Re-opening of the Royal Canal
The President of IWAI, Paul Garland, has warmly welcomed the news that the re-opening of the Royal Canal has been confirmed for 2009. The announcement had been made at a forum held by Waterways Ireland in Mullingar on Tuesday April 22nd to plan the re-opening festivities.

He said: "Restoration of the Royal Canal began over 30 years ago in 1974 and we owe a great debt to those early campaigners, especially in the Royal Canal Amenity Group for their doggedness in bring the project forward and to the trojan work done by Waterways Ireland and their predecessor organisations in solving the many complex technical problems the project presented.

He went on: "Along with the RCAG, our association has campaigned for this project for many years and its great to think that in a very short time boaters will once again be able to complete the triangular route from Dublin to the Shannon in County Longford down Lough Ree to Athlone and on past Clonmacnoise and Shannon Bridge to enter the Grand Canal for the return trip to Dublin". IWAI believes that the re-opening of the Royal is important not just for Royal itself but because it provides the opportunity to bring renewed focus to the canals network as a whole. Canals need boat traffic to survive in the long term and the existence of a circular route clearly makes them more attractive to boaters - and that's good for the communities who live along the canals"

He went on to say that IWAI was committed to working in partnership with Waterways Ireland, the Royal Canal Amenity Group and local communities along the Royal Canal to put together a programme of events for the "Year of the Royal - 2009" that will celebrate the restoration of this beautiful waterway in the fashion it deserves.

 

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