Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Coming from the immediate vicinity of the former Ballinamore-Ballyconnell Canal, now the Shannon-Erne Waterway, I recall that when the studies of making the waterway navigable began, we were told that doing so would flood the countryside and cause awful damage. However, the restoration of the canal has been of benefit to drainage in the area. We were told that the opposite would be the case before the work was carried out. The project was given the go-ahead in 1989, at a time when North-South and east-west relations were very difficult. We may think we have difficult relations with Britain, but that was an entirely different era. The Minister is aware from her visits to County Monaghan and other parts of the country of the success of the Shannon-Erne waterway. The Ulster Canal will now join the network. The addition of the stretch to which I have referred will be a significant complementary asset in the inland waterways system. I appeal to the Minister to go back to Waterways Ireland to ask it to have further studies carried out and to bear in mind that the same concerns were raised in 1989 about the then Ballyconnell-Ballinamore Canal. I have no doubt that, in the light of the progress of engineering technology, the project could be made a reality.

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