Category: IH News 2023

Cry me a river. Agriland.ie reports on the “concerns” of a farmer in Cork about the possible building of a greenway along the former railway route from Mallow to Dungarvan.

Complaints about farms being split have no merit – when there was a railway there (up until 1967), any farm was split and had to move livestock etc across an operational railway. Doing the same across a greenway is far less hassle as people/bikes can stop in a shorter timeframe than a moving train. The specific farm in question only acquired the route in 1982 – what did they do pre-1982?

The usual objections that arise around any other infrastructure project are also trotted out – pollution and in this case, the effects on freshwater pearl mussels. So, build absolutely nothing anywhere near anything (BANANA).

I’m sure if the farmer wanted to build a one off house in the countryside, they would not have any concerns about pollution or anything else for that matter.

TheJournal.ie have an article reporting on the uncovering of what they claim is part of the former City Basin, which was located to the west of the Grand Canal Harbour in Dublin 8 (the latter also filled in).

However, I am not convinced it is part of the City Basin and, in fact, the article goes on to state:

“Long since filled in, the city basin, which was situated between what is now the St James’s Hospital campus and the Guinness Storehouse, was once part of the Grand Canal’s original mainline from Inchicore to Grand Canal Harbour”

The last part of this statement is incorrect. The City Basin was separate to the canal mainline from Grand Canal Harbour and based on the location of the excavation, this feature is more likely to be connected to the canal.

Here in Ireland, we tend to delay taking action until it is too late and also to tolerate those engaging in inappropriate behaviour. In the case of the Naomh Éanna, we have both.

The Naomh Éanna is a former Aran Islands ferry, which has been sitting in a dry dock in Grand Canal Docks in Dublin for years, with various promises to restore it, none of which have materialised.

Per RTE, the boat has now listed in the dock and the most appropriate solution now is to remove the boat and scrap it. However, no-one wants to bell the cat.

It is not helped that the land on which the dry docks (there are multiple dry docks) sit is tied up in NAMA and neither Waterways Ireland nor NAMA appear to want to take action in this regard.

It does beg one question – is the owner(s) of the vessel paying for the occupation of the dry dock and if not, why not?

A public consultation into plans by Cork City Council to upgrade the existing greenway from Cork to Rochestown and build an extension to the Cork City boundary commences on 26th January 2023 and runs to March 10 2023.

A consultation process in respect of a greenway along the former SL&NCR from Collooney to Enniskillen is underway and a website in respect of the project has been established.

Details of the public consultation process is here.

I don’t normally comment on trains on this site, however, there is always an exception to the rule.

Per the Offaly Express, a group of Transition Year students in Tullamore College are restoring a former Bord na Mona Wagonmaster locomotive and are seeking sponsorship for a number of items to enable them to do this, as follows:

To borrow a four-wheel trailer to move the bonnet and cab of the Wagonmaster in and out of our shed as we work on it.

A sponsorship or donation of 3M stripping discs so that we can remove the rust and old paint from our Wagonmaster.

A sponsorship or donation of red oxide metal primer. This will be used as a protective base layer to prevent the corrosion and rusting of our Wagonmaster as it is exposed to the elements.

Anyone in a position to assist should contact: wagonmaster@tullamorecollege.ie