§ MR. M'GOVERN (Cavan, W.)I beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland whether he is aware that the construction of the Ballyconnell and Ballinamore Canal cost over £220,000; and that it was intended that this canal should connect 770 the Shannon with Lough Erne and the Ulster Canal, and thus establish direct water communication between Limerick and Belfast; is he aware that the Board of Works some years ago erected a dam at Ballyconnell closing the lock, and thus blocking up the canal for the purposes of navigation, and flooding tracts of low-lying lands along its banks and rendering useless this expenditure of £220,000; and will the Government take any steps to put this canal in order, so that the waterway between Belfast and Limerick may be utilised.
§ MR. WYNDHAMCommunication between Lough Erne and Belfast was afforded by the Ulster Canal, which was completed in 1842. The height of the floods is regulated by the weir and sluices placed across the Woodford river at Ballyconnell as part of the original navigation works, and is not affected by the dam placed at the canal lock. Very considerable expenditure would be necessary in order to re-open this canal for navigation, and it is doubtful whether there would ever be traffic to justify such expenditure.