President Michael D Higgins was treated to a display of a wealth of waterways-related artefacts from Waterways Ireland’s archive when he visited the North-South body’s headquarters in Enniskillen today.

The President was accompanied on the visit by his wife, Mrs Sabina Higgins. They were briefed on the organisation’s work by chief executive, John McDonagh, and also met with a number of personnel.

Chief executive of Waterways Ireland, John McDonagh with President Michael D Higgins Photo: WI via Twitter

Waterways Ireland archivist, Nuala Reilly gave the President and Mrs Higgins a brief history of each artefact. These included the engineer’s record of a project at Meelick, Co Galway, a Shannon toll book and some images from the Waterways Ireland Digital Archive.

Launched last year, the digital archive provides global access to more than 3,000 drawings, sketches, maps, artefacts and records of Ireland’s inland waterways.

President Higgins previously had responsibility for inland waterways in his role as Minister for Arts, Heritage, Gaeltacht and the Islands.

Commenting, President Higgins said: “As an all-island body, Waterways Ireland is succeeding in its quest to reawaken Ireland’s waterways – they are truly a symbol of vitality in our shared culture and have become more appreciated in recent years. It was gratifying to play a part in this rejuvenation, as Minister with responsibility for our inland waterways in the mid-1990s and more recently as President of Ireland.”

The President was accompanied on the visit by his wife, Mrs Sabina Higgins

Chief executive of Waterways Ireland, John McDonagh added: “On behalf of Waterways Ireland, I was honoured to welcome the President and Mrs Sabina Higgins to our headquarters today. President Higgins, when Minister of Arts, Heritage, Gaeltacht, and the Islands, set out a vision for the future of the inland waterways, one that preserved and enhanced their heritage and culture. I wish to thank the President for his enduring support and passion for the waterways.”

He added: “I was delighted to share with President Higgins and Mrs Higgins today, the achievements of Waterways Ireland since its establishment in 1999, and how we intend to build on his vision, through our second Heritage Plan, Climate Action Plan, and our new vision for the future.”

Waterways Ireland advises of a number of temporary closures and scheduled works across the inland waterways in the coming days.

On the Grand Canal, masters of vessels should note that there will be no boat passages permitted on the Nass Branch (NCB2) for six weeks from Monday 14 February to facilitate breast gate replacement and associated works.

On the Shannon Navigation, Athlone Lock will be closed to boat traffic from Wednesday 16 to Friday 18 February to allow for the relocation hydraulic and electrical services as part of recent flood relief works.

Further north, essential dredging works will see the closure of Portna Canal on the Lower Bann Navigation to boat traffic from Monday 14 to Monday 21 February.

And in Dublin, masters and users of the Royal Canal should note essential tree works taking place between the 12th Lock and Granard Bridge (Castleknock Road) from Monday 14 February.

These works are expected to last for 10 working days which may not be consecutive, weather and staff resources allowing. Vessel owners moored on the north band are asked to cooperate with the tree works contractor to access the bank area for tree removal.

While closure of the towpath is not foreseen, towpath users are asked to be mindful of the works ongoing.

On behalf of Waterways Ireland, KPMG have created an online survey to capture canal boaters’ views on use of Ireland’s inland navigations, with a particular focus on sustainable on-water living.

“The purpose of this survey is to capture the experience and knowledge of users of the canals and the views of long-term residential moorings on the canal navigations’ ‘liveaboards’,” it says.

All permit holders should already have received this survey directly. If you did not receive it or if you do not hold a permit for the canals, you can still complete this survey by including your Shannon vessel registration number in the permit number box.

“This survey is completely anonymised and no responses can be identified, the permit number is just used a verification for eligibility,” it adds. “This is to encourage survey participants to provide responses which are completely transparent and which reflect the interests, views, outlooks and recommendations of survey respondents in an honest way.”

The closing date for the completion of the survey is next Thursday 17 February at midnight.

Waterways Ireland advises masters of all craft on the Shannon-Erne Waterway that there is a fallen tree obstructing the navigation arch on the bridge at Foalies Cut, which connects Upper Lough Erne with the River Erne between Belturbet in Co Cavan and Crom in Co Fermanagh.

Masters are requested to follow an alternative route at this time as the cross-border body for Ireland’s inland waterways works to clear the obstruction this week from Monday 7 February.

Waterways Ireland advises masters and owners on the Erne System that the Erne Head of the River rowing race will take place in Enniskillen on Saturday 5 March.

The event will run from noon to 3pm, with the official race start at 1.30pm, the cross-border body for Ireland’s inland waterways says.

The route will start upstream of the Killyhevlin hotel and will race through to Enniskillen Royal Grammar School boathouse, a total length of 6km.

Entries are open until 7pm on Wednesday 23 February. For more see the race’s Facebook page.

Waterways Ireland advises that the towpath on the south bank of the Grand Canal adjacent to Church Avenue in Sallins, Co Kildare will be closed from Tuesday 15 to Saturday 26 February.

This closure is to facilitate tree removal works for the new Grand Canal Greenway route, the cross-border body for Ireland’s inland waterways says. It follows a similar closure from Lucan to Hazelhatch that continues until this Sunday 6 February.

Waterways Ireland advises masters of vessels on the Royal Canal that the summit level near Mullingar is closed to navigation with immediate effect until the end of February, in order to facilitate essential leakage repair works on the inland waterway.

Waterways Ireland advises all masters of vessels and water users that the rescheduled Head of the Shannon rowing event will take place on Saturday 19 February.

The day’s events will take place at 11am and 2pm downstream of Carrick-on-Shannon bridge for a distance of 3.5km. The rowing starts at the navigation maker known locally as White Woman/White Lady and will proceed back to the marina downstream of the bridge.

Masters of vessels on the Shannon Navigation are requested to proceed with additional caution in the vicinity of the rowing events.

Waterways Ireland advises users of the Grand Canal from Lock 12 in Lucan to Hazelhatch that the towpath on the north bank will be closed from Monday 10 January to Sunday 6 February inclusive.

This four-week closure is to facilitate site investigation works for the Grand Canal Greenway Project, the cross-border body for Ireland’s inland waterways says.

All 16 locks on the Shannon-Erne Waterway will be out of service from today, Friday 24 December to Monday 3 January inclusive.

No lock passage by boat will be possible during this period. Normal service will resume at 9am on Tuesday 4 January.

Waterways Ireland adds that the service blocks at Aghalane and Haughton's Shore are closed until Monday 14 March. The service blocks at Ballyconnell, Ballinamore, Keshcarrigan and Leitrim shall remain open.

All associated land-based and water-based Blueway trails shall remain open, the cross-border body for Ireland’s inland waterways confirms.

In other updates: on the Erne System, Bellanaleck slipway is closed until further notice, while on the Shannon Navigation, Clarendon Lock in Co Roscommon will reopen to navigation on Tuesday 4 January following works in preparation for lock gate replacement, as previously reported on Afloat.ie.