€145,000 spent on fencing and removing tents from canals

Waterways Ireland has spent €145,000 to date to remove tents on canals and to put up fences in the areas affected.

Speaking at a meeting of the Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Local Government and Heritage, the group’s operations controller said the cost has been accrued since 9 May.

Éanna Rowe told Social Democrats TD for Dublin Bay North, Cian O’Callaghan, that so far a total of 360 tents have been removed from “encampments” on the Grand Canal in Dublin.

He said this includes the removal of 30 tents today.

Mr Rowe said Waterways Ireland and Dublin City Council have been in discussions over “looking at accelerating plans” around the “animation and activation of stretches of the canal” to make the canals less likely to have tented encampments on them.

He said this may include more trees and “biodiversity”, street seating and attempts to increase footfall and use of the canals by the wider public.

Responding to a question from Mr O’Callaghan over how long the fencing may remain in place, Mr Rowe said “unfortunately the fencing will have to remain in areas where tented encampments are springing up”, saying the fences are there “to protect” people living in tents.

Mr Rowe did not specifically answer a question from Mr O’Callaghan over whether the fences will remain “indefinitely”.

Earlier, Mr Rowe said Waterways Ireland offered its “sincere condolences” to the families and loved ones of two men whose bodies were found in the Grand Canal in Dublin on Saturday.

Yesterday gardaí said foul play was not currently suspected over the deaths of 49-year-old Donal Scanlon and 42-year-old Alex Warnick.

Mr Scanlon was originally from Ballybunion, Co Kerry and Mr Warnick was from the United States.

Their bodies were found close to Ranelagh Road bridge in Dublin City Centre on Saturday morning.

Committee chair and Green Party TD Steven Matthews also offered the committee’s condolences, saying “I just want to offer my condolences and sympathies to the two men who tragically lost their lives”.

‘430 possible encroachments’ on public waterways land

Meanwhile, Waterways Ireland has said it will take “three-to-five years” to resolve 430 cases where private citizens or groups have built on public waterways land.

Mr Rowe said the issue will take a number of years to address.

Responding to a question from Sinn Féin TD for Cork East Pat Buckley, Mr Rowe said there have been “430 possible encroachments” onto public land.

Mr Rowe said these include issues such as a small jetty or private marina on the back of people’s homes, which do not have planning permission and are built on State land.

He said of these 430 encroachments, 55 are being “regularised”, including 17 which have been resolved.

However, he said it will take “three-to-five years” to resolve all 430 cases.

During the same discussion, Mr Buckley said there are “major implications here”.

He said the issue is putting pressure on those who built the unauthorised sites, but also on ordinary people who may be unwittingly using the locations.

Waterways Ireland said 76% of the 430 cases are of less than five berths in size, and that 68% “pre-date” the foundation of the organisation.

However, Mr Buckley responded by saying: “If you inherited it, you inherited it, but it’s on your property. Waterways Ireland is meant to serve the people.”