The adventurous aquatic dream is dead in the water.
Dublin’s long-mooted white water rafting project is no more.
First proposed in 2018 and officially put forward for public consultation in August of 2019, the multi-million-euro idea was to be housed in Dublin’s Docklands, set within the environs of George’s Dock.
It was initially estimated that it would cost up to €12 million, though this figure would eventually soar to approximately €25 million.
Despite considerable apathy, widespread mockery and eventual determined objection from the general public, the project splashed around in various stages of development until now.
As of Monday morning (6 December), the white water rafting dream appears to be dead in the, er, water.
That’s the news coming from Dublin City Council ahead of a full meeting on the subject, scheduled for Monday night, where a final report on the plan’s failure is set to be mulled over.
Speaking to JOE on Monday, councillor Danny Byrne welcomed the outcome.
“I was opposed to it from the beginning for a variety of reasons, not least the housing emergency that we’re still in” he said.
“Given that almost €2 million has been spent on this project in design fees and surveys, I would be calling for a period of reflection. Because it appears that the management are going to come back to us early next year with another proposal.
“Let’s see if we can learn some lessons from this,” he added.
In terms of the general public, Byrne took issue with the proposed price of €50 per entry.
“There seemed to be a great impetus by the management of the council to go forward with it [the overall project] – however, it became evident when it was turned down for funding on more than one occasion that there wasn’t an appetite for it in funding circles, and there certainly wasn’t an appetite for it from the general public,” he said.
In terms of what might happen next, Byrne said he intends to push for consultation at local level.
“The local swimming pool there has been closed down for two years – the Sean MacDermott Street Swimming Pool.
“The story was that there was broken tiles but here we are two years later and it’s not scheduled to be opened until the third quarter of next year. That, to me, does not show a local authority with its priorities right.”
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