Plans afoot to reduce Lough Derg mooring times to five days

There are plans afoot to reduce the length of mooring time in Lough Derg harbours to just five days, and the proposal is meeting some opposition from members of the general public.

Cllr Joe Hannigan told a recent meeting of Nenagh Municipal District that many boat owners throughout Ireland are concerned about proposed new draft bye-laws for the country’s waterways, including Lough Derg.

Waterways Ireland is proposing to bring in bye-laws which will include changes to winter mooring, a tax on all businesses operating on the River Shannon, as well as the reduction of mooring times to just five days.

Cllr Hannigan said boat owners are worried that this may mean boats being driven out of places such as Ballina / Killaloe, where there is plenty of mooring space, to smaller harbours on Lough Derg such as Garrykennedy, Terryglass and Dromineer. He said the Council should make a submission to Waterways Ireland pointing out that this could cause problems.

Cllr Phyll Bugler disagreed with Cllr Hannigan. She said that people who moored their barges for long periods in the canal in Killaloe were a “major problem. Our quay in Killaloe is being blocked and we can’t get tourist boats.” She added that jetskis on Lough Derg are "causing mayhem at Ballina bridge.”

Director of Services Marcus O’Connor said that the five-day rule “might not be perfect” but people had been mooring boats at some locations for months. “The idea is to get a turnaround. It is not perfect, but it's a reasonable compromise.”

Waterways Ireland has said the bylaws are only at the proposal stage, and public consultation is ongoing. Cllr Hannigan urged the public to go online and make submissions.

The Councillor said there's also a problem with abandoned boats in some harbours. “I know of boats that are abandoned in Terryglass, Kilgarvan Quay and Dromineer and no one knows who owns them. Some boats were left for years, they took in water and they sank. It's an environmental hazard because the boats' engine diesel is getting into the water.”