A report on the feasibility of reopening the 93km Ulster Canal, which links Loughs Erne and Neagh, is expected from Waterways Ireland later this month.
Cross-Border efforts have been under way since last year to have it reopened 70 years after it was abandoned because of engineering problems.
"The Ulster Canal is the missing link. At the moment we can sail from Coleraine to Limerick and to Lough Neagh and Limerick to Lough Erne, but the in-between section eludes us all," said Mr Brian Cassells of the Inland Waterways Association of Ireland.
The association presented its case for the reopening to the Northern Ireland Assembly two years ago.
With the Ulster Canal Development Committee, it is hoping that it will get the same cross-Border support from politicians as it has in the communities of Monaghan and Armagh which would benefit substantially from its development.
The director of Monaghan Chamber of Commerce, Mr Joe Heron, said it would provide massive economic and regeneration benefits for the entire Border region.
"It runs through a number of towns and villages in Co Monaghan, and if you look at the north of England where canals have been reopened, the economic boom and development that has followed has been very significant.
"We would see the Ulster canal as offering massive potential for towns like Clones, Smithborough, Glaslough and Emyvale," he said.
"The canal was opened in 1841 in an attempt to alleviate social and economic poverty in the Middletown and wider area, and I find it strange that here we are in 2003 and the purpose of the reopening is the same," said Mr Colm O'Braonan of the Middletown and District Development Committee in Co Armagh.
"This is quite a rural Irish town. The old industries of linen and whiskey have gone, and most of the industry is over the Border in Monaghan in mushrooms, or people work in the public services in Armagh city," he added.
The canal fell into disuse because of a problem with the supply of water.
During the four months of summer each year it was dry and unusable. It is also significantly narrower than the Shannon and could only carry smaller barges and therefore smaller cargoes.
In the 21st century the engineering problems are easily rectified, and the economic spin-offs would primarily be tourism-related.
The campaign to have the canal reopened has attracted the support of the international civil engineering company Louis Berger.
The vice-president of the company, Mr Joe McKeever, has ancestors in Northern Ireland and said that while he was on a visit to Ireland two years ago he looked at the feasibility of reconstructing the canal.
"It was of tremendous interest to me personally and professionally because of the fact that I have all of my family roots in the Lough Neagh and Magherafelt area," he said.
The company believes it will cost around £100 million to reopen the canal, 60 per cent of which is still in existence, and it intends to tender for the job once its funding is in place.
The report on funding is being completed by Waterways Ireland and is expected to confirm there is substantial European and cross-Border funding available.
Once that is secure the next step,according to Mr Heron, is for the political will to allow it proceed.
"Dublin and Belfast or London have to make the commitment and say this is a project that is economically and politically sensible and will have massive social benefits for the region," he said.