Veteran Offaly architect calls for Tullamore Grand Canal Harbour to be opened to public

The leading architect and town planner, Fergal MacCabe has called for Tullamore canal harbour to be opened to the public in the near future so people can see what a magnificent asset it is.

An opening “which gives access to the dockside should be provided at a very early date in order to allow  the people of Tullamore to enjoy, even in a very limited  way,  this extraordinary  amenity which has for over two centuries lain hidden in the middle of their town,” said Mr MacCabe

Mr MacCabe, who also attended the open day for the plans in Tullamore library last week, congratulated the council and Waterways Ireland on “their visionary appointment of Grafton Architects to generate ideas which will eventually lead to the incorporation of this strategic site into the urban fabric of Tullamore.”

“Grafton's analysis and range of options are imaginative but realisable and provide a firm basis for the debate which now commences . Their scheme sets out the high standards which will, in the fullness of time, deliver a scheme of international class and which will be a showpiece for Tullamore,” he added.

Continued Mr MacCabe: “I particularly note Grafton's suggestion that, as the project may take many years to be fully realised, a small and confined area which gives access to the dockside should be provided at a very early date in order to allow  the people of Tullamore to enjoy, his extraordinary  amenity. This is the first but firm step on a long and exciting journey and I for one, am thrilled to see it.”

“The preface to the Harbour Study clarifies that the whole exercise is subject to detailed cost  benefit analysis and contingent on the right funding model at appropriate times. It proposes to set up a working group to prioritise masterplan opportunities, identifying related pathways and optimum developing and operating models.”

Caroline McCarroll, of Waterways Ireland's head office in Enniskillen, said the plan was essentially a catalogue of future possibilities for the development of the harbour.

“We don't want people to think that there is a plan which will be railroaded through,” stressed Ms McCarroll.

She added that the harbour would be ideal for residential, economic and tourism projects.”