New canal and Shannon bylaws being proposed by Waterways Ireland are causing concern amongst some boat owners and sports groups.
Suggested changes include the reduction of mooring times, changes to winter mooring and a tax on all businesses operating on the Shannon.
Waterways Ireland has said the bylaws are only at proposal stage, and public consultation is ongoing.
At Mullingar Harbour Canoe Polo Club, there are concerns that the proposed bylaws for the Royal Canal will turn the harbour into a storage facility for boats that never move.
"The Royal Canal is 140kms long and there's plenty of space for all of us, and what we're suggesting really is that different areas are marked out with different kind of priorities, I suppose.
"We absolutely recognise the needs of the boaters to have long-term boarding places, but we think that equally there are places like this that should be prioritised for water sports only," said Ivan McDonald, Chairperson of Mullingar Harbour Canoe Polo club.
Waterways Ireland has said it is looking to introduce a number of areas which will be designed for water-based activities like canoe polo.
For long-time Longford boater Liam Finnegan, who is part of the Shannon Lakes and River Group, there is concern around a proposed €200 registration fee on the River Shannon.
"I live along the shores of Lough Ree and I've been all my life in boating and indeed most of the people involved in this group are all their lives in boating and we're also concerned about new bylaws being proposed.
"The big one is a blanket €200 charge per year annual registration. Now, this means that the guy with the €250,000 cruiser who has lots of time to spend on the Shannon every year, and more luck to him, will pay it and the guy with the 18ft cabin cruiser who might only get out five times a year will also pay €200."
He added that costs will not stop there, as to get registration, you must have insurance.
"The insurance will want a survey so to go out around five days a year it could end up costing you €500. It's the people that own the river and you're basically being charged for being afloat on the river.
"Another big thing is winter moorings. People avail of winter mooring in places like Carrick-on-Shannon for the winter months and under these proposals, that's being done away with," said Mr Finnegan.
Waterways Ireland has said it is taking the views of everyone on board and has extended its public consultation process. The first phase will end tomorrow, and re-open again next year.
"We've had over 600 submissions to date. We are having a series of meetings throughout the country.
"We've had eight public consultation meetings, and we've had received very good feedback from the public and from stakeholders," said Paddy Harkin, inspector of navigation at Waterways Ireland.
"We want to have fit for purpose bylaws that will be fit for purpose for the next 20 to 30 years.
"We have a variety of users. In the Dublin area, we have houseboats. We have the canals, we have the greenways and on the Shannon we have a lot of tourism.
"It's a broad spectrum of users that we have, so we're meeting all of those organisations and all of those people are getting an opportunity to input into the bylaws.
"They will all be looked at from 27 October through to January and then we will put that feedback into revisions that will be called for phase two of the public consultation and that phase two will run until the 26 February.
"That gives the public and stakeholders the opportunity to have a second look at the revised bylaws that we will be proposing to introduce in 2024," said Mr Harkin.
