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Issue No.8 Spring 2002
Ulster Canal
By Laura Duffy
A new report into the proposed re-opening of the Ulster Canal speculated that if
the project should go ahead that it would create over a thousand temporary jobs,
twenty five permanent jobs in maintenance and over three hundred jobs linked to
tourism development. The report which was presented to members of the Inland
Waterways Association of Ireland and will also be discussed by the new cross
border body Waterways Ireland. In a previous report it was estimated that the
canal could be restored at a cost of around £60-68 million sterling and could
take up to four years to complete. The benefits to rural and tourism development
would be immense.
The restoration of the Ballyconnell-Ballinamore canal which links into
Shannon-Erne network has an annual turnover of 13 million Euro and has already
repaid the initial 47 million Euro investment. The first report was commissioned
by both the Irish and British governments. The potential for the restoration of
the Ulster Canal was the focus of a feature article written for The Other View
by Tarka King who has been lobbying for the project for many years. This second
report will add impetus to making the re-opening of the canal a reality. Almost
sixty-percent of the original canal remains intact. If restored it would link
Lough Neagh with the Shannon-Erne navigation system and could prove a major all
island tourist attraction Initially the canal was built at a cost of £230,000
but it development was curtailed by the onset of the railway. Parts of the old
Ulster Canal remained opened to public use up until the Fifties.
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