Displaying items by tag: Ulster Canal Greenway

31st October 2021

Rising Costs Block Path of Ulster Canal Greenway

The Irish Independent (subscription required) reports that the Ulster Canal Greenway project has been put on pause due to rising costs.

As previously reported on Afloat.ie, Phase 2 project was launched in September 2017 to much fanfare — with EU funding contributing to the €4.95 million secured for the route between Smithborough in Co Monaghan and Middletown in Co Armagh.

However, four years on and no ground has been broken on the scheme due to a significant rise in the estimated costs associated with the walking and cycle way.

The greenway is intended to complement the Ulster Canal which is the subject of a multimillion euro restoration project. Last year significant funding from the Shared Island Fund was released to support the implementation of Phase 2 of that project.

Meanwhile, a public consultation on Phase 3 of the greenway from Smithborough to Clones has been launched.

A public drop-in session was held last Tuesday 26 October at Smithborough Community Hall and the next will take place this Wednesday 3 November at Clones Courthouse from 5pm-8pm. For more see the consultation brochure HERE.

Published in Inland Waterways

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Dun Laoghaire to Dingle Yacht Race Information

The biennial Dun Laoghaire to Dingle race is a 320-miles race down to the east coast of Ireland, across the south coast and into Dingle harbour in County Kerry.

The race is organised by the National Yacht Club.

It never fails to offer a full range of weather, wind and tide to the intrepid entrants, ranging from a 32ft cruiser to a 79ft all-out racer.

Three divisions are available to enter: cruiser (boats equipped with furlers), racing (the bulk of the fleet) and also two-handed.

D2D Course change overruled

In 2019, the organisers considered changing the course to allow boats to select routes close to shore by removing the requirement to go outside Islands and Lighthouses en route, but following input from regular participants, the National Yacht Club decided to stick with the tried and tested course route in order to be fair to large and smaller boats and to keep race records intact.

D2D Course record time

Mick Cotter’s 78ft Whisper established the 1 day and 48 minutes course record for the Dun Laoghaire to Dingle Race in 2009 and that time stood until 2019 when Cotter returned to beat his own record but only just, the Dun Laoghaire helmsman crossing the line in Kerry to shave just 20 seconds off his 2009 time.