NORTHERN EXECUTIVE CALLED ON TO MATCH MINISTER HUMPHREYS’ COMMITMENT TO ULSTER CANAL
Calls were made at the May meeting of Monaghan Co Council for Ministers in the Northern Ireland Executive to match the commitment being shown by Cavan/Monaghan Fine Gael TD and Irish Government Minister Heather Humphreys in relation to the reopening of the Ulster Canal. During a discussion on the project, Sinn Féin councillor Pat Treanor referred to a recent meeting held by ICBAN or the Irish Central Border Area Network, on which he was a Co Council delegate, with the Waterways Ireland Chief Executive, who explained that Waterways Ireland were at the mercy of the North-South Ministerial Council for the go-ahead and resources to extend the Ulster Canal project.
Councillor Treanor said he welcomed Waterways Ireland’s commitment to implementing the remit they currently had in relation to the development. Councillor Treanor added that Waterways Ireland didn’t have the resources to do this until recently but Shared Island and Rural Regeneration funding from the Government had allowed them to continue. “The more we can lobby to get more Shared Island or PEACE or INTERREG funding, the quicker the project will proceed,” he remarked. David Maxwell (Fine Gael) said the North-South Ministerial Council had given Waterways Ireland the remit to develop the project from Clones to the Erne. He welcomed the recent announcement of funding to progress the development of the marina in Clones and expressed…