The findings of a second consultant's report into the proposal to reopen the Ulster Canal, was presented to members of the Inland Waterways Association of Ireland in Monaghan last night.
The cross-Border project, more extensive than the Shannon-Erne waterway, is the final link in a necklace of navigable waterways which would make boating possible between Waterford and Lough Neagh.
Waterways Ireland, a Cross- border body set up under the Belfast Agreement, already has one consultant's report to consider. It was jointly commissioned by the Irish and British governments and aided by the European-funded Interreg Programme. The proposal concluded two years ago that the canal could be reopened at a cost of £60-£68 million sterling.
The Ulster Canal is a key stretch of waterway which once allowed barges to traverse the island from Belfast up the Lagan river to Lough Neagh and on through counties Armagh, Monaghan and Fermanagh to join Lough Erne at the Finn river.
Covering 93 km in a north-east to south-westerly direction, it emerges from Lough Neagh along a 13-km stretch of the River Blackwater to Charlemont. Towns and villages it passes through or near include Charlemont, Moy, Blackwatertown, Benburb, Milltown, Caledon, Tynan, Middletown, Monaghan, Smithborough and Clones, all of which stand to benefit from the reopening, as their counterparts on the Shannon-Erne waterway benefited from the reopening of that canal
Proponents point to heritage and economic benefits, and say it would contribute to rural and regional development in a significantly disadvantaged area. They say the similar but shorter Ballyconnell-Ballinamore canal, which facilitated the reopening of the Shannon-Erne waterway, has already repaid the investment of about €47 million, returning about €13 million a year in tourism.
Most of the support mechanisms are already in place on the existing navigation. The waterway also passes through Monaghan town, although under a car park in the town centre. Approximately 60 per cent of the original Ulster Canal route is, however, intact.
The original canal bridges are typically a single-span masonry arch with an integral towpath ledge underneath. There are 56 original masonry arch bridges intact along the navigation.
The work was completed in 1841 at a total cost of £230,000. The anticipated traffic failed to develop as the growing popularity of the railways took commercial business away.
It is estimated the work would take four years to complete and construction would create 1,050 temporary jobs, 25 permanent jobs in maintenance, and 300 permanent jobs in the tourism industry in the project's final year of construction.
The consultancy report was discussed at a forum in the Hillgrove Hotel, Monaghan. An Ulster Canal website has been set up at:
http://members.lycos.co.uk/ihirel and/canals/Ulster_Canal.htm