Dumped trolleys and tyres ‘ruining historic Coalisland Canal’

Residents of a rural town are raising fresh concerns about waste dumping incidents in an historic canal in County Tyrone.

Abandoned trolleys, car tyres and traffic cones are just some of the items that can be seen half submerged along the Coalisland canal.

It is one of the oldest canals in the UK and Ireland and was once a valuable route for coal that operated commercially for more than 200 years after it opened in 1787.

Mid Ulster Council said it is aware of the recent reports of waste dumping in the canal and is “arranging for its removal shortly”.

The canal was abandoned in 1954, but in recent years it has become a popular beauty spot for walkers, cyclists and wildlife photographers.

But now a number of local councillors and community groups are saying the experience is being “ruined” for people because of the large number of waste dumping incidents.

It comes as figures obtained by BBC News NI show that during the last five years there have been more than 2,700 waste dumping incidents in Northern Ireland

Between 2019 and 2023 the majority of the dumping incidents related to mix waste and more than 200 were in the Mid Ulster council area.

Last year, BBC News NI reported on how volunteers in County Tyrone spent weeks removing a blockage from the River Blackwater they said was “half the size of a football pitch”.

The town of Coalisland grew up around the canal, which was built in the 18th century to export coal from the Tyrone coalfields.

Work on the canal began in 1733, but progress was slow and it was not officially opened until 1787.

The push to build a waterway had come from the desire to cheapen the cost of transporting coal from the Tyrone coalfields to Dublin.

The canal linked the coalfields with Lough Neagh, via the River Blackwater.

In 1954 the Coalisland Canal, was officially abandoned and the remains of the entire canal are now the property of the Department of Agriculture and the local council.

Since the 1990s a number of local community groups have held events such as canal walks and lectures to raise awareness of the canal.

The canal walk stretches almost five miles from the town of Coalisland to the River Blackwater.

In January 2022 Mid Ulster Council announced that extensive works would be carried out to improve Coalisland canal and the town’s centre as part of a £1.8m investment in the Mid Ulster area.

Plunkett Scullion is a wildlife photographer who has spent most of his life in and around Coalisland Canal.

“I’ve been about the canal in recent weeks taking photographs of a couple of egrets that appear here every morning and it was hard to miss the state of the canal”, he said.

He added: “You only have to take a short walk down the canal and you’ll see lots of tyres and I counted at least four or five shopping thrown in the canal.

“The state of the canal makes you feel sad, especially because of all of its rich history and now to see it like this, it’s not right.”

Raymond O’Neill, chair of the Coalisland Canal Group, said: “This is as bad as I’ve seen the canal in some time, and we just want to make it attractive as possible for local people and tourists.

“It’s a shame to see it in such a state, and we want to do something to give it back to the people of this area and make it something they can be proud of.”

Mr O’Neill said they have already offered volunteers from their group to local government authorities to help with the clean up.

He said: “We’re told local authorities don’t have the resources or time whereas we have the equipment and people willing to help, but there’s a lot of red tape.

“Our group doesn’t have the authority to take action on our own and we’ve been told we need permission from groups like the Rivers Agency and the local council, so we need to find a solution.”

Malachy Quinn, an SDLP councillor for Mid Ulster, said the canal was a “fantastic community asset” adding that “we all have a role to play in keeping it clean and respecting the space”.

“I’ve contacted the council and requested a clean up and they’re actively looking into this.”

Mid Ulster Council said it would normally clean the canal twice a year.

In a statement the council said: “The last time we removed items from the canal was on 2nd and 16th December 2024 when we removed a number of large items such as tyres and pallets as well as a significant volume of litter and general detritus.

“We condemn fly-tipping in all its forms, recognising the damage it can cause to our local environment and the distress it can cause to the communities where it happens. “