This, I’m sure, will come as a revelation to most Dubliners, but our city compares very well with Venice in terms of the physical extent of its waterways. For the record, within the city area, the Royal and Grand canals, along with the navigable Liffey, achieve a combined length of 48km. Which is actually just a fraction longer than the 46km extent of the waterways in Venice.
Needless to say, the physical metrics only tell part of the story, as the city of Venice was literally water-born, emerging slowly over time from the Adriatic ooze, and resulting in a place that’s totally defined by an intricate density of lagoons, channels, islands and waterways. Added to the fact that in Venice, uniquely, transport is almost totally given over to boats rather than to cars. And the choice of motive power for boats and barges had a critical bearing on design.
As a consequence, around Britain and Ireland, canals are fringed by wide towpaths, in most cases running on both sides of a generously proportioned water channel. This was all about boosting performance by accommodating two-way, horse drawn navigation. In our era, these design choices add enormously to the waterways’ appeal and utility. Moving through the city we encounter, not just threads of canal water, but green arteries, all of fifty metres wide in places and averaging around thirty. On this basis, the two canals add around one hundred hectares, or ten times the area of Stephen’s Green, to the City’s complement of accessible green space. It’s a phenomenal resource and one that, as with so much of Dublin public realm, is largely undervalued.
Yes, these are important pedestrian and cycling corridors and to that extent there’s good public interaction. But a huge element is still missing that actually goes to the heart of what these waterways were designed to provide. These were conceived as transformative channels for trade and commerce, which explains why both connect to the Liffey. In today’s world they instead fulfil a function that’s largely to do with heritage and culture. But trade and commerce still beckon and could again become central to their story. Only last month we read of the closure of the Grand Canal Farmers’ Market at Wilton Place – an activity that could easily be accommodated on the water. Unquestionably we have a problem here – but is this to do with a deficit of facilities or with absence of imagination and vision? So let’s start pulling things together. Dublin River Fest 2017 is over, the Tall Ships have departed. Next year could we throw a Canal Fest instead and bring on the barges?
Reg McCabe is a member of the Inland Waterways Association of Ireland, a group that campaigns for the preservation and enhancement of Ireland’s waterways network. Details are available on the organisation’s website at iwai.ie
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