Dublin City Council is currently finalising a plan for how to make better use of the city’s waterways. It hopes to bring more activity and use of the water around the Docklands, the Liffey and the Canals, through more water sports and activities, for example.
The first steps are to issue leases of up to 5 years to vessels to moor in three areas along the Liffey: a pontoon to the east of Seán O’Casey Bridge, the area to the west of the Samuel Beckett Bridge, and an area at the east of the Talbot Memorial Bridge.
The council now wants to hear from “people, groups or companies who have viable and visually attractive proposals”.
“I think it’s very positive,” said Reg McCabe, spokesperson for Inland Waterways Association of Ireland. “It’s about looking at the water as part of the public realm, which is something we haven’t done in a number of years.”
“I’m young enough to remember the Guinness barges going up and down the Liffey,” said McCabe, who described the Liffey as being akin to a public street.
A city beach could also be considered as part of the changes, similar to the Paris Plages – a chain of artificial beaches created in the summer along the River Seine.
