The Heritage Council Annual Report 2002

Work continued on the planning of the greenway following the march of O Sullivan
Beare from the Beara peninsula, W Cork to Breifne in the Leitrim Cavan area. Over
60 community groups were represented at a meeting in Portumna in May 2002 to
discuss the detail of the project while a chain of festivals running along the route in
summer 2003 was launched in October, to mark the 400 year anniversary of the 1603
march.
Waterway Corridor Study
The Heritage Council initiated the waterway corridor study in partnership with
Galway County Council, Offaly County Council, Waterways Ireland, and Offaly and
Kildare Waterways. The study area covered the Grand Canal from Ballycommon
westward to the Shannon, and the Shannon from Shannonbridge south to Meelick.
The aim of the study was to identify how the waterway corridor could be managed for
the benefit of all: heritage, land and water-based users.
Council member Ruth Delany and other participants at the Water Corridor Study
Launch in Tullamore in November 2002
The study concludes that:
· the waterway corridor, and the corridor experience, include far more
than just the navigation channel: they include the villages and towns,
the landscape, the ecology and the built and cultural heritage
· the canal and river can create a strong identity and positive images for
their regions
· management of canal and river must balance different objectives:
ecology, landscape, economic development
· economic, tourism, community and local development initiatives need
to be integrated, to link environmental practice and the use of that
environment for local gain
· the best way of doing that is through properly resourced partnerships
between stakeholder organisations, including farmers and landowners,
local authorities and other public sector bodies, local community
organisations and waterway users