A boat outing on the Grand Canal for campaigners for the protection of the Pollardstown Fen in Kildare.
Pollardstown Fen near Newbridge in County Kildare is a botanical area of national importance. It is also the main source of water supply to the Grand Canal system at its summit-level.
The fen supplies water to the Grand Canal system all the way into Dublin and also flowing west to the Shannon. If drainage work at Pollardstown Fen continues engineers and scientists fear it would cause irreversible damage to the canal,
The canal would eventually dry up if this drainage continues.
The chairperson of the Pollardstown Fen and Grand Canal Protection Committee Tom O'Connell urges Kildare County Council to place the Pollardstown Fen under a special amenity area order and conservation order.
This is a conflict between the preservationists on the one hand and the powerful landowning community on the other.
Kildare County Council unanimously agree to await the outcome of an independent report of Pollardstown Fen commissioned by the Minister for Fisheries with responsibility for forestry and wildlife Brian Lenihan.
Under the Wildlife Act the minister could have sections or the entire fen declared a national amenity and he has the power to compensate landowners in the fen if a preservation order is made.
Some two-thirds of the fen is privately owned.
To further highlight the campaign Inland Waterways Association, organise a boat outing on the Grand Canal from Hanged Man's Arch to Pollardstown Fen.
An RTÉ News report broadcast on 15 October 1979. The reporter is Yvonne Murray.
