Waterways Ireland advises masters of vessels and waterway users on the Erne System in Northern Ireland that the Castle Museum and Henry Street jetties in Enniskillen will be closed to mooring over the coming days to facilitate the Erne Classic coarse angling competition.

The Henry Street Jetty will close from 8am on Saturday 6 May while the Castle Museum Jetty will close from 8am on Tuesday 9 May. Both will reopen from 6pm on Friday 12 May.

Masters of vessels and waterways users are requested to proceed with additional caution in the vicinity of the fishing competition and to be aware of possibility of fishing lines in the water, the cross-border body for Ireland’s inland waterways adds.

Waterways Ireland advises masters of vessels and waterway users that Lock 3 on the main line of the Grand Canal at Inchicore in Dublin will be closed from Friday 5 May until Saturday 3 June to facilitate emergency repair works on the lock gates.

Waterways Ireland advises masters of vessels and waterway users that Drumleague Lock on the Shannon Navigation’s Lough Allen Canal has been reopened for the May Bank Holiday as of Saturday 29 April but will close again from Tuesday 2 until Saturday 13 to facilitate continued emergency repair works to the lock gates.

Waterways Ireland advises masters of vessels and waterway users on the Erne System that remedial works are planned for Corradillar Jetty on Upper Lough Erne on Friday 21 April and from next Monday 24 to Friday 28 April.

Access to the Co Fermanagh jetty and slipway will be limited during the above dates with the site closure on Monday to include the jetty, slipway, quay and car park, the cross-border body for Ireland’s inland waterways adds.

Mechanical equipment will be operating on land and on the water. Masters of vessels and waterways users should proceed with additional caution in the vicinity of the works and adhere to instructions from works crews and signage.

Waterways Ireland advises masters of vessels and users of the Grand Canal that ground investigation works have commenced Phase 2 of the Grand Canal Greenway between Sallins and Lowtown in northeast Co Kildare.

These Kildare County Council works started on Tuesday 18 April and are expected to last for approximately eight weeks.

The towpaths shall mostly remain open for public use for the duration of the works but intermittent closures will be necessary during trial hole excavations.

Advance warning signage will be erected on the towpath to warn the public of any closure. Boat navigation will not be affected, the cross-border body for Ireland’s inland waterways adds.

Waterways Ireland informs masters of vessels and waterway users on the Shannon-Erne Waterway that the waterfront jetty in Leitrim village is now owned and managed by Waterways Ireland.

This jetty is located upstream of the slipway on the northern side of the waterway. The Shannon Navigation Bye Laws apply to this jetty from Monday 17 April, the cross-border body for Ireland’s inland waterways adds.

Waterways Ireland advises all masters of vessels and users of the Lower Bann that Carnroe Lock has been reopened open to navigation after repair works.

The Northern Ireland river lock had been closed for infrastructure maintenance last December, as previously reported on Afloat.ie.

Masters of vessels are advised that water levels between Carnroe Weir and the The Cutts are currently high, the cross-border body for Ireland’s inland waterways adds.

Waterways Ireland advises masters of vessels and waterway users that Drumleague Lock on the Shannon Navigation’s Lough Allen Canal will be closed from Tuesday 18 to Saturday 29 April to facilitate emergency repair works to the lock gates.

Waterways Ireland advises masters of vessels on the Shannon Navigation that in-river works for the construction of the Killaloe Bypass bridge commence Monday 17 April and are expected to continue for several months until December.

The bridge is being constructed around 1km downstream of the existing Killaloe–Ballina bridge.

Plant and other equipment that will be operating on the navigation during these in-river works include the following:

• Jack-up piling barge, 22m x 17m x 2.44m
• Stabilising crane barge, 30m x 23m x 1.88m
• Piling rig, 85t
• Crawler crane, 130t
• Tugboat/pusher boat Tiger 2
• Dumb barge, 23m x 9m
• Landing craft
• Safety boat
• Landing pontoon and gangways

Piling will commence on Tuesday 2 May with three bridge piers being constructed in the navigation by December, the cross-border body for Ireland’s inland waterways says.

A buoyed navigation channel has been provided for 100 metres either side of the in river works since Friday 14 April. The navigation channel will be to the west side of the barges/pontoons from Monday 17 April to Wednesday 31 May.

Masters of vessels are requested to proceed at slow speed, with additional caution in the vicinity of the works, and to follow the instructions of the safety boat crew.

Waterways Ireland advises masters of craft wishing to make passage on the Royal Canal in Dublin that a navigation restriction is to be applied to use of the 10th Lock in Ashtown for boat passage.

The maximum beam of craft that will be permitted to pass through this lock will now be restricted to 3.5 metres, the cross-border body for Ireland’s inland waterways says.

This restriction is necessary due to structural checks recently undertaken on the lock, which identified a need for limiting the size of craft that could pass through the lock, it adds.