Latest news with #DublinBoatRally
Irish Times
02-05-2025
- Climate
- Irish Times
Ireland's weather in pictures: Swimmers, sunbathers and those socialising at the Barge
Irish people took to beaches, parks and back gardens this week to enjoy some of the hottest weather on record for this time of the year. A high for the month of 25.9 degrees was recorded at Athenry in Co Galway on Wednesday afternoon, breaking a 40-year-old record, while 17 official Met Éireann weather stations had their warmest April day on record. The forecast is for conditions to stay largely sunny over the weekend and into next week although temperatures will be closer to normal. Here are some pictures taken by our photographers over the last number of days: READ MORE Buí (Bramble) cooling off in the sea, at Sandycove, Dublin on Wednesday. Photograph Nick Bradshaw Sup boarders off the coast at Sandycove, Dublin on Wednesday. Photograph Nick Bradshaw A swimmer at the Casement statue, Dun Laoghaire on Wednesday. Photograph Nick Bradshaw Ada from Dublin enjoying the sunshine and a book in Dublin's Phoenix Park on Tuesday. Photograph: Alan Betson Enjoying the sunshine in Dublins Phoenix Park. Photograph: Alan Betson Sunrise on Killiney beach, Dublin. Photograph: Collins Cian (6) from Dublin enjoying the sunshine on Dollymount Stand, Dublin. Photograph: Collins From left: students Katie Killarney from Dublin, Penny Morris from Dundalk and Niamh Murray from Dublin enjoying the sunshine on Dollymount Stand, Dublin on Wednesday. Photograph: Collins Clarissa and Roberto with their son Henrique (2) enjoying the sunshine on Dollymount Stand, Dublin on Wednesday. Photograph: Collins 30/05/2025 People out enjoying the good weather at Vico Co Dublin this afternoon. Pic Stephen Collins/Collins Photos From left, Erin Farrell, Katie Kelly and Orla Murphy enjoying the sunshine on Dollymount Stand, Dublin on Wednesday. Photograph: Collins Shirlaine Corrigan from Donaghmede, with her son Fionn (4) on Dollymount Strand, Dublin on Tuesday. Photograph: Dara Mac Dónaill People sitting outside and socialising by the Grand Canal at the Barge Pub in the Portobello, Dublin near Charlemont Street Bridge. Photograph: Bryan O'Brien Saileog (3) Cunnane from Rush enjoying the glorious weather on the South Strand in Rush Co. Dublin 1. Photo: Bryan O'Brien Warm weather by the sea in Sandycove, Dublin on Wednesday. Photograph Nick Bradshaw Walking the dog at King's Inns Park, Dublin, on Monday. Photograph: Dara Mac Dónaill Colm Meyler from the boat Carrigeen, one of the approx 16 flotilla boats on the Royal Canal which were heading to Dublin for the Dublin Boat Rally but have were stopped at Confey, near Leixlip on Wednesday. The boaters were told Irish Rail will not be able to lift the Newcomen Bridge (between the Conventions Centre Dublin and Croke Park) , to enable the flotilla to enter the city centre, the Liffey, Grand Canal Dock and back to the Shannon via the Grand Canal. The route around the Royal and Grand Canals via the Liffey is know as the Green and Silver. Photograph: Alan Betson The flotilla boats stopped at Confey, near Leixlip on Wednesday. Photograph: Alan Betson Students from Maynooth College enjoying the glorious weather on the South Strand in Rush Co. Dublin. From left: Kyle Griffin with Ben Blackwell on his back, Daniel Jordan with Teddy Coghlan on his back and at right Kaylan Doyle carrying Rebecca Cannel. Photo: Bryan O'Brien
Irish Times
30-04-2025
- General
- Irish Times
Dublin-bound Royal Canal flotilla halted ahead of boat rally
Flotillas of boats, waterborne parades in Dublin city and the annual Dublin Boat Rally are all in doubt this year after Irish Rail said it was unable to lift a bridge to allow boats to enter the city from the Royal Canal. The Inland Waterways Association of Ireland's (IWAI Big Cruise includes a range of activities on the Grand and Royal canals as boats make their way to the capital for the Dublin Rally. Parades of boats on the Liffey and activities in the Grand Canal Basin were also planned. Many of the participants and members of the association have been planning the cruise for more than a year. However, a flotilla of some 20 boats, which left the Shannon in Co Longford on April 4th, is currently stopped at Confey, near Leixlip on the Dublin-Kildare border, after boaters learned the Newcomen Bridge, in Dublin's north Docklands, has closed until further notice. READ MORE Kay Baxter, outgoing president of the association, said the flotilla had stopped, rather than press ahead through a lengthy series of locks and bridges, leading up to the Dublin bridge, where they would have to turn and come back. The news was a big blow, she said, to many boaters who were planning to attend the Dublin rally. Some participants had even bought boats to take part while others were planning to recreate the Green and Silver account by Tom Rolt of a voyage through Ireland's inland waterways published in 1949. It was one of the last trips by any boat around the triangular loop of the Shannon, Grand Canal and Royal Canal, before the Royal closed to navigation until 2010. Colm Meyler from the boat Carrigeen, one of the flotilla boats on the Royal Canal. Photograph: Alan Betson Ms Baxter said Irish Rail controls the Newcomen lifting bridge and opening dates are published early in the year. In recent years, the number of bridge lifts has reduced to six. In 2024, the final lift in August did not happen because of mechanical failure – a feature which contributed to the popular name of the bridge among boaters, 'The Effin bridge'. 'The knock-on effect extends to the IWAI Dublin Rally, the annual trip up the Liffey on May 17th and the parade of boats in the Dublin Basin,' she said. Similarly, a group of boats from Clontarf Yacht club had to cancel their plans to travel down the Royal Canal to the river Shannon and return by the Grand Canal. [ 'It's cheaper to drive': Commuters react to Irish Rail fare rises Opens in new window ] Irish Rail said it regretted 'that a fault with the Newcomen Lifting Bridge has impacted on the IWAI's upcoming events'. A spokesman said, however, the IWAI's characterisation of the circumstances was 'inaccurate and unfair'. He said: 'The final lift of the bridge last August was postponed due to what was understood to be an electrical fault with the bridge. Irish Rail undertook works to replace the key electrical components within the following week, in readiness for the 2025 programme. 'A fortnight ago, we undertook the first of the bridge lifts in 2025 for IWAI, during which the motor for the gear crank failed, resulting in the bridge being stuck in the upright position. It is our view now that this was the original fault, which it transpires was intermittent in nature. The fault two weeks ago did delay trains for a time until the bridge was lowered.' The spokesman concluded that Irish Rail hoped 'to be in position to facilitate bridge lifts later in the season'.
