Royal Canal gets ready to welcome boats once again

A large crowd turned out on the banks of the Royal Canal at Hill of Down on Sunday to celebrate the imminent reopening of the waterway next month. It was a great community occasion as local people, together with members of the Hill of Down Royal Canal Amenity Group and Killyon Community Development Association, welcomed a flotilla of boats to the area on Sunday as the canal came to life. After many years of restoration works, the Royal Canal will once again open from Dublin to Shannon with an official opening on 30th September. Each community along the route will hold a festival to celebrate the reopening of the canal in advance of this date. The Waterway Festival at Hill of Down was run by the Royal Canal Amenity Group in conjunction with the local community council, with music, dance and a barbecue and plenty of activities. Sponsorship was provided by the Waterways Association which now owns the canal. The Royal Canal, like the Grand Canal, links Dublin with the River Shannon. The canal is in the process of being restored and developed for a range of recreational activities - in particular boating, walking and fishing - and will once again be navigable between Dublin and Clondra in Longford where it meets the Shannon. Peter Holland, chairperson of the local branch of the Royal Canal Amenity Group, said: "It was a wonderful day with 400-500 people going through the area. The ribbon was cut by Cllr Tracy McElhinney and boats came from Dublin, Kilcock, Enfield and Maynooth. We have had boat rallys before but nothing like this convoy." Mr Holland explained that the Royal Canal closed in 1961 and that the first moves to get it reopened began in 1974 when it emerged that Dublin City Council wanted to build a motorway across the canal and Mr Holland explained that roads were also built across it in Meath and in Longford, which have now been removed. A new bridge was put in at Longford at great expense. The Hill of Down branch of the Royal Canal Amenity Group was established in 1998. The canal is fully completed and testing for leaks is now underway. The restored canal has great potential for tourism and Mr Holland explained that it will now be possible for boats to travel from Dublin along the Royal Canal to meet the Shannon at Clondra and then continue along the Shannon and back to Dublin via the Grand Canal. "All you need is the time," said Mr Holland, who added that there would also be facilities for walking and cycling. This new tourism and recreation resource will be actively promoted once the waterway is officially reopened. "It was a great day for the local parish. To go from watching the canal's demise to seeing it restored again. The community really got behind this on Sunday and it was a great success," said Mr Holland. He also thanked John Clarke and the Killyon Community Development Association for their involvement in making the event such a success.