Picturesque city waterfall under threat

One of the most picturesque waterfalls in Galway City could soon be a relic of the past if a management plan to clean up a much neglected waterway is not adopted immediately.

Residents of Nuns Island have been horrified that the water behind their homes had all but dried up in last year due to the overgrowth of weeds along the canal known locally the Madeira River or the Western River, opposite the Galway Garda Headquarters on Mill Street and the shop, Don’t Call Me Dear.

One resident who did not wish to be named took it upon himself to block one of the channels in O’Brien’s Bridge in order to funnel water through to the waterfall opposite the Bridge Mills.

He also cleaned up the water beside the bridge which had been littered with baby seats, footballs and pallets.

Since his intervention, the water flow has vastly improved along that stretch of waterway and the waterfall has resumed its form, just in time for the Arts Festival and the Galway Races.

But it is a temporary solution to a long-term problem for a waterway which has slipped between the cracks of the agencies charged with maintaining the State’s waterways.

Residents David and Irene Coen of No 1 Nuns Island, whose colourful back garden overlooking the Corrib has been the focus of countless tourist photos, have been frustrated in their attempts to get any government or local body to take responsibility for the valuable city asset.

The Office of Public Works (OPW) have told residents they have no responsibility for this particular stretch, while the Corrib Navigation Trustees, which manages the main canal through the city, the Eglinton Canal, also insists that this stretch of water is outside its control.

“What happened is the water is coming from the River Corrib down the Eglinton Canal and it branches into two on Canal Road, one branches onto the Eglinton Canal again, which is pristinely kept, the other branches down past the Bish, down Mill St and exiting at the end of Mill St beside O’Brien’s Bridge,” explained David.

“But because of the weeds and reeds it’s blocking the flow of water, the water is veering more and more into different channels and not getting as far as O’Brien’s Bridge. A few weeks ago there was no waterfall there at all. That bank was just full of scum as the water had disappeared.”

Last year a swan had used the waterway opposite Don’t Call Me Dear for a nest. This year she has not returned as the bank of weeds is so overgrown it has almost cut off the flow of water altogether.

“Everyone on Nuns Island is concerned with this unsightly mess. We’re hoping someone will take ownership and fix it and bring it back to the way it was and have a management plan,” said Irene.

The waterway has escaped public attention because most of it goes along the back of private houses, as opposed to the Eglinton Canal which has long been used as a strategic tourist walkway.

 Read more in today’s Connacht Sentinel