Just who owns the derelict boats in Athy?
The River Barrow flowing through Athy
Unresolved land ownership issues are continuing to delay efforts to remove derelict boats along the banks of the River Barrow in Athy.
This update came almost six months after cllr Aoife Breslin called for the boats to be removed. The Labour Party councillor told a recent meeting of Athy Municipal District that a “huge opportunity” to improve the town is being missed.
At October’s Athy Municipal District meeting, cllr Aoife Beslin asked Kildare County Council to confirm what plans it has to progress the removal of derelict boats ‘along the bank beside the car park at Dominican Lane, Athy’.
Acting senior executive officer Darragh Carey issued the council’s response, saying that the local authority has ‘engaged legal services to determine land ownership in the area’. As land ownership is not clear, the council can’t yet decide how to proceed with removing the boats.
Much of the lands near the boats are not registered on the online land-ownership system.
Cllr Breslin said that the site is very valuable to the town. She said a local business owner on the waterway, who has recently fallen ill, had identified a number of boat owners and had found agreement to remove the boats from the water. Progress has stalled since the person’s illness. Cllr Breslin asked the council to liaise with said individual.
She said: “We’re missing a huge opportunity here. This would absolutely enhance the town of Athy”.
At April’s meeting of the municipal district, cllr Breslin asked the council to engage with relevant stakeholders to have derelict boats removed from the left bank of the river.
The council said it had contacted Waterways Ireland. The latter confirmed that it was aware of two sunken boats near Crom-a-Boo Bridge.
The council further detailed that the area at the bridge is outside Waterways Ireland’s responsibility and that it could only remove boats with the owner’s permission. One of the boats was to be removed after the Barrow branch of Inland Waterways Association of Ireland sought assistance from Waterways Ireland to remove it, with the owner’s permission.
According to cllr Breslin, there has been a problem of people coming to Athy with their boats, because there are no mooring fees, and then leaving them there.
