The last date for your personal submission to the Bye Laws Consultation process is Monday Feb 26 2024 at 1600 hrs
This phase of the consultation includes changes brought about by the 933 submissions received by Waterways Ireland during the initial consultation covering bye laws for the
- Barrow Navigation and the Grand and Royal Canals
- Shannon Navigation and the Shannon-Erne Waterway
There are 41 Canal Bye Laws and 44 Shannon Bye Laws under discussion. Both sets incorporate Irish Legislation enacted over the past twenty-five years, that deal with boat construction and safety, people safety on the water, and environmental safety around the water.
How to make a submission can be found at: www.waterwaysireland.org
As an efficient way of responding to the individual Bye Laws, many people have added their comments in a new Colour to the Bye Laws documents supplied by WI and then returned them as a Submission. Draft Canal Bye Laws Jan 2024 & Draft Shannon Bye Laws Jan 2024 are listed under Consultation Process.
These links to gov.ie legislation around boating and the navigations, are referenced in the Draft Bye Laws:
Canals Act 1986 (Bye-Laws)1988
RCD – Recreational Craft & Personal Watercraft Regulations 2017 (incls.1998)
Heritage Act – 2018 Part II Canals 2018
Code of Practice – Recreational Craft & Personal Watercraft is a useful booklet on the EU RCD.