Brief report of IWAI Council Meeting,
held in the Bush Hotel Carrick on Shannon Co Leitrim, on 22nd September
2007.
31 council
members attended the meeting
Boat Jumble
Brian
Cassells stated his disappointed that the Boat Jumble was not better
supported as the signs beforehand were for a good turnout of stall holders
and members; which did not materialise. He thanked Paul Garland and others
who helped organise it and hopefully next time will show a better return.
Finance
John
Corrigan, Treasurer said that the financial situation is not as healthy as
he would like it to be and we address this as costs to run council had
significantly increased over the past year. After some discussion;
suggestions put below forward as follows:
(1)
Utilise some of the funds that has built up in branch bank accounts
to raise the profile of the Association to market ourselves successfully to
attract new members.
(2)
Set up new Special Interest Branches with a view to increasing
membership
(3)
Promote Corporate Membership
(4)
Develop our web-site to include large scale advertising
(5)
Increase advertising in IWN
(6)
Attract funding from larger Companies (other than water based
companies)
Revenue has
approved the retention of our charitable status and also approved the
changes to the Articles of Association.
World Canal
Conference:
Three delegates represented the Association at the conference held in
Liverpool last June. IWAI had a stand at the event which attracted a lot of
attention. Brian Cassells said it is vital that we are represented at these
events as it raises the profile of the Association. Waterways Ireland had no
exhibition or delegates in attendance so it was left to IWAI to fly the flag
for Ireland
Management
of Advertisements for IWN
A sub
committee is to be set up for the management of advertisements for the
magazine. An appeal at earlier meetings for help has fallen on deaf ears.
If the magazine is going to be expanded in anyway, urgent assistance is
required. More information will be available at the next meeting.
Insurance
Delegates
met with Allianz Insurance Company in June and concerns were raised that the
Association may not have sufficient cover for all the activities under taken
by branches. Allianz has requested that an activities list be submitted to
them to ensure that proper cover is in place. Our insurance cover is now
under review and discussions are on going to sort this out as soon as
possible. It is very important that proper cover is in place to protect
organisers of events currently it is uncertain as to what type of specific
cover exists. The biggest concerns are land based activities and work
parties. An update on the position will be issued as soon as information
comes to hand. Sean Patterson, Newry Branch thanked John Corrigan for his
help for putting in place insurance cover for the Newry Branch open day in
June.
Water Extraction/Lough Ree
Colin
Becker reported that he attended a meeting in May along with members of
Athlone Branch for the proposal by Westmeath Co. Council to extract 50
million litres of water per day from the inner lakes to service the area.
The WCC say their proposal will only have a minor impact. The delegates
present put forward their concerns from an inland waterways point of view.
More
serious is the proposal of Dublin Co. Council to abstract 300million litres
per day to service the Dublin Area. Unlike the Westmeath situation, that
water is totally lost to the Shannon Catchment. Roscommon Co. Council is
also proposing to abstract water from Lough Ree and there may well be other
schemes in the pipeline.
Waterways
Ireland and ESB manage the waterways presently and this scheme may well
force a control system. At the moment there does not appear to be any system
by which the overall capacity of the catchment is managed.
Membership
Brenda
Ainsworth Membership Secretary circulated the updated position on membership
figures as follows:
Sept 2005 Sept
2006 Sept 2007
Total
Memberships: 2537 (4,200) 2644
(4,400+) 2712 (4,500+)
Paid: 2078
2278 2287
New: 438
422 338
Members
renewed: 1640 (78%) 1856 (83.5%)
1949 (82%)
A break out
of individual branches stats were distributed.
Lobbying & Liaison
New Branch
Officers Handbook:
Greg Whelan launched the new Branch Officers Handbook at the meeting and a
hard copy of the handbook was available for all branch officers. This will
also be posted on the IWAI web-site. Brian Cassells thanked Greg for his
efforts and all who helped put the handbook together. He said that this will
be a great benefit to present and incoming branch officers as all the
information necessary is contained in the handbook.
Year
Planner 2008:
Greg asked that branches submit their list of events for next year and he
will circulate a reminder on this in the near future. A draft of the year
planner will be circulated to branches so that they can be aware if any
major events clash. It was noted that Waterways Ireland had not included any
of IWAI activities in their guide on the waterways for 2007 which was
forwarded to them early in 2007
Boating & Leisure
The
committee continue to focus on topics that are
of a county-wide interest. A good boating practice guideline is currently
being developed and a number of other projects are also under development.
Work has
started on trying to establish a list of private marinas with public jetty
spaces which would have been a condition of planning and also a list of
local authority jetties.
If any one
knows of any in their area please make contact.
We had
intended having a webpage highlighting waterways fuel outlets with a price
watch on fuel charges. Data was collected, however a number of main
suppliers on the Shannon did not wish to supply information for putting on
the web, currently this project is on hold with the latter issue under
review.
Work on a
pollution awareness website page relating to waterways use is ongoing.
The
committee would welcome any suggestions from members on other areas and any
information you wish to share - Contact the
committee by
email
Members Supplies
Dave Mc
Cabe reported that sales so far this year is down 70% on last year. He
reported on difficulties involved in trying to keep up with orders for
customers. Some publications are now out of stock and there is no date given
for a re-print. There are also difficulties with stocks of charts, again no
dates given for re-issues. We are losing revenue as a result of being unable
to fill orders. Discussions are ongoing with regard for publication of our
own branded charts. Dave said that merchandise i.e. key rings, mugs, ensigns
etc sold at the Shannon Boat Rally showed good returns with some items sold
out.
Projects/Development Officer Report
Ulster
Canal Update:
By now
everyone must have heard the good news relating to the UC. At the
North-South Ministerial Council Meeting in Armagh it was announced that the
restoration work is to proceed on the western end of the canal from the Finn
River to Clones. It appears Waterways Ireland is going to manage this
project and they will be putting out to tender for the contracts works
involved. There is a lot of work to be done initially before work is due to
commence including; route selection, land acquisition, environmental etc.
Ulster
Canal Guide:
The Guide
is now ready to go to print and will be launched in the near future. The
Heritage Council has agreed to fund the costs involved and we would like to
thank them for their generosity. The two Ministers Edwin Poots NI and Eamon
O Cuiv, RoI have expressed interest in actually doing the launch; a date has
yet to be decided
Shannon
Harbour:
Colin Becker and members of SHB met with John Moloney TD from the area.
Members of the Heritage Council Inland Waterways Committee also visited
Shannon Harbour.
Boyne
Navigation Branch:
Colin said
he had met with branch delegates to explore some ways to help the branch
seek additional funds for their campaign.
Lough Derg
Branch:
Discussions
are ongoing in trying to get something moving in relation to the old
Killaloe to Limerick canal.
Jet Skies:
Cavan Co. Council are trying to control jet-skis and fast craft on a
number of lakes in Lough Oughter and again the question of registration of
all vessels on the waterways is up for discussion.
Green
Diesel:
The Customs & Excise have issued a consultation paper outlining options for
implementation to the phase-out of the derogation on cheap fuel for pleasure
craft -
‘Private
boats continue to use ‘Red’ diesel but pay the full rate through their
distributors’
This currently is the preferred option by IWAI as it has the least impact on
the whole distribution system and doesn’t involve cleaning tanks etc.
Navigation
Leaflets:
Plans are
in hand to produce a serious of leaflets about our waterways along the lines
of the one on the Ulster Canal. A new leaflet on the Lower Bann has already
been produced which was funded by the Lower Bann & Lough Neagh Advisory
Committee. A copy of the leaflet will be included in the next issue of IWN
for every member.
Water
Safety Demonstration:
This event
was held in the Forum in Enniskillen. It was decided to run this safety
awareness evening following a number of accidents on the waterways on Lough
Erne and waterways in Northern Ireland. IWAI, RNLI, Local Councils and
Waterways Ireland were represented.
Boat Safety
Weekend:
This event was held in Leitrim Marina .IWAI and other interested bodies
supported the event.
The next Council Meeting will be held on 24th November at 10.30
a.m.
Venue: Craigavon Civic Centre (beside Craigavon Shopping Centre)
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