This is the first City Canals Community Forum presented by the Inland Waterways Association of Ireland as part of Open House Dublin.

The forum’s objective is to provide a space for discussion and debate on the current status of Dublin City canals. The aim is to encourage communities and individuals to engage with new community-based structures and campaigns that can restore canals to their deserved status as functioning navigations, thus guaranteeing their survival for future generations.

What’s gone wrong with our precious city canals?

These engineering marvels from the 18th century were designed and built to serve as navigations – as conduits for barge trade and transport. While we value towpath cycleways and walkways, as boat ways the canals have long since entered a period of decline, as traffic has slowed to a trickle.
Their primary navigational function is in danger of being lost unless action is taken to reverse this pattern of decline.

Dublin as a canal city is almost unique in this respect – in London, Birmingham, Manchester and a host of UK towns and cities, we find canals that are buzzing with traffic of every description. These are also places that celebrate waterways as cultural and heritage icons.

And things could be about to get worse as waterways face a further threat in the shape of harsh new regulations that, if enacted, will severely curtail rights of boaters to access the city via the Royal and Grand canal corridors. The forum’s objective is to provide a forum for discussion and debate on the current status of Dublin City canals and also on mechanisms to reverse their decline.

The agenda for the morning will consist of short contributions, from both urban geography specialists and also boaters and other recreational users who will draw on their experiences to present practical proposals for consideration and debate.

09.30 REGISTRATION & REFRESHMENTS

10.00 INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND

Book-in Only

Wheelchair accessible
Accessible Toilets