{"id":422585,"date":"2026-04-29T01:23:19","date_gmt":"2026-04-29T01:23:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/422585\/"},"modified":"2026-04-29T01:23:19","modified_gmt":"2026-04-29T01:23:19","slug":"waterways-ireland-cools-on-plan-for-sauna-at-grand-canal-basin-graving-docks-considers-working-dry-docks-instead","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/422585\/","title":{"rendered":"Waterways Ireland cools on plan for sauna at Grand Canal Basin graving docks, considers working dry docks instead"},"content":{"rendered":"

The front bar of the Marker Hotel was packed with people, chatting lively over drinks while icy gusts blew through Grand Canal Square outside on a Wednesday evening in mid-April.<\/p>\n

Nearby, in the reception, somebody had put up a small sign, telling members of the Grand Canal Residents Association that their annual general meeting would take place in the hotel\u2019s vast conference room.<\/p>\n

Rows and rows of chairs were set out on a grey and black carpet that resembled cobblestones. A pair of women sat at a desk inside the door, taking the names of attendees, and passing out raffle tickets.<\/p>\n

Up at the front of the long white-walled room, some lanyards bearing the names of local representatives were resting on the yellow cushioned chairs.<\/p>\n

As 7.30pm came around, the association\u2019s chairperson, Michael Ingle, took to the small black stage, standing between a lectern and a huge screen, onto which he had some slides projected.<\/p>\n

They had some \u201chot issues\u201d to discuss, including the long-discussed future of the graving docks, Ingle said, once the meeting was underway.<\/p>\n

The docks sit on a tiny spit of land at the eastern end of Grand Canal Basin, between new Dublin and old Dublin, in a way. Between the shiny apartments and offices of the Silicon Docks, and \u2013\u00a0 just over the Dodder \u2013 the long-established residential areas of Ringsend.\u00a0<\/p>\n

While previously, the old docks had served as the final resting place for the Naomh \u00c9anna, 18 months ago they were being considered as the site for a recreational hub with saunas and coffee trucks, he said.<\/p>\n

But the most important thing was keeping it in public ownership, Ingle said. \u201cAnd keeping it available for people to experience and enjoy.\u201d<\/p>\n

During his most recent engagement with Waterways Ireland, the state body that is in charge of the docks, he was informed that this would be the case, he said.<\/p>\n

More importantly, Waterways Ireland is now looking at restoring the graving docks to their original function as a facility for repairing boats, he said. \u201cIt\u2019s probably a good thing, and I know the lads at Ringsend District and Historical Society will be very happy to hear that.\u201d<\/p>\n

A spokesperson for Waterways Ireland, when asked about this plan, said they continue to collaborate with local stakeholders regarding proposals at Grand Canal Dock, \u201cincluding the feasibility of restoring a graving dock for boat repair\u201d.<\/p>\n

Forty storeys and capsized boats<\/p>\n

The Thursday morning after the residents association meeting, the graving docks remained in their usual state. They were cordoned off by steel fences and brick walls covered in graffiti tags with rusting barbed wire on top.<\/p>\n

While the northern and middle docks were still filled with water, the southern one was filled in with gravel.<\/p>\n

Its gates were open for people to browse about. A boy booted a football with two young men, and one of the Viking Splash Tour\u2019s amphibious trucks rolled down a ramp into the Grand Canal Basin and glided through the murky waters towards the square.<\/p>\n

Opened in the 18th century, the graving docks are part of Ringsend\u2019s Georgian maritime heritage, says Rachel Lopez of the Ringsend and District Historical Society. \u201cThey remain a living element of Ringsend and Dublin\u2019s identity. They\u2019re so integral to our history.\u201d<\/p>\n

As such, in their engagements with Waterways Ireland, their recommendations for the docks\u2019 future were coming from their position as preservationists, she says. \u201cThe best possible outcome, the best possible scenario, would be to return them to their former glory. Into a working condition.\u201d<\/p>\n

But, while the District Historical Society was keen to preserve the docks as a site that honoured the area\u2019s heritage, others had more elaborate proposals in mind.<\/p>\n

In September 2019, developer Harry Cosbie unveiled his idea for a 40-storey commercial tower on the site, known as \u201cBlock 19\u201d.<\/p>\n

Crosbie\u2019s idea, he told the Sunday Independent<\/a>, was to turn one of the three docks into a heated pool and another, which at the time held the Naom \u00c9anna ferry, into a cafe bar.<\/p>\n

The Naomh \u00c9anna resided in the middle dock between 2014 and 2024<\/a>. But, after the rusting vessel capsized in the summer of 2023, it was dismantled, with its stern relocated to the Ringsend Irishtown Community Centre to be restored and kept there on display.<\/p>\n

Once the ferry was gone, in October 2024, David Smith, co-founder of advertising company Micromedia and yoga studio The Space Between, brought to the Grand Canal Residents Association a proposal for a temporary use of the graving docks.<\/p>\n

Smith envisaged a \u201ccontemporary community wellness, recreation and cultural initiative\u201d that would feature outdoor saunas, recreation areas, a yoga studio and event space, as well as a studio for an artist-in-residence, according to his proposal document.<\/p>\n

The whole project that he suggested would be rolled out on a phased basis between late 2024 and early 2026, the document said<\/a>.<\/p>\n

When Smith brought the idea to the residents association, the \u201cpotentiality of a sauna situation\u201d appealed to chairperson Michael Ingle, Ingle told the AGM on 15 April. \u201cI kinda hitched my wagon to him, because my big thing is that it should stay in public ownership.\u201d<\/p>\n

Being somewhere tranquil in the midst of a busy space, it should become something like a park, he said. \u201cIt should be open to everybody.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"Michael Ingle at Grand Canal Residents Association AGM. Photo by Michael Lanigan.Renaissance<\/p>\n

Waterways Ireland had put the future of the graving docks on the long finger, Ingle said at the AGM. \u201cWe\u2019ve been pushing them, pushing them. We\u2019ve been having meetings. We kinda created a steering group.\u201d<\/p>\n

During his most recent engagement with Waterways, they informed him that Smith\u2019s proposed hub wasn\u2019t going ahead, he said. \u201cThey put the brakes on.\u201d<\/p>\n

Instead of adding those interim facilities in the short term, they would be devoting that time to replacing the sea lock gates<\/a> next to the graving docks, he said.<\/p>\n

The Thursday after the AGM, the sea locks next to the graving docks were entirely fenced off. Locals were unable to cross over the lock bridge to enter Ringsend.<\/p>\n

The Camden Lock Pedestrian Crossing was closed for works from January 2026 to May 2026, read an orange sign fixed to green fences, which were held down by long concrete blocks.<\/p>\n

\"\"Photo by Michael Lanigan.<\/p>\n

The three sea locks, which connect the canal to the Liffey, are being restored, a notice nearby said.<\/p>\n

This is intended to re-open the Grand Canal Dock to tall ships and other large sea-faring crafts, it said, \u201cwhile maintaining, preserving and protecting a unique heritage asset\u201d.<\/p>\n

Below one of these notices promising to bring about a new “renaissance”, somebody had tagged one of the concrete blocks with the words \u201cload of bollox\u201d in black spray paint.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The area around the graving docks will be a working site for the next 18 months, Ingle told the AGM.<\/p>\n

But, the graving docks themselves will remain in public ownership, nor will they be built over, he said.<\/p>\n

Instead, the dry dock will become a functional space for repairing boats, Ingle said. \u201cSo the people who are on the liveaboards over there, on the barges, are gonna be able to have a place to go and do their repairs on their boats that they need to do.\u201d<\/p>\n

A spokesperson for the Grand Canal Dock Marina Residents Working Group, when asked for comment, provided a report<\/a> that says barges require drydocking every two to three years to clean and paint their hulls, to check for rust and to change the anodes which protect underwater metals from corrosion.<\/p>\n

The nearest dry docks for Dublin-region barges are in Athy and Mullingar \u2013 which are about five days away by barge \u2013 and Shannon Harbour in Offaly, a seven-day journey, the report says.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

There are approximately 35 barges in the Grand Canal Dock, and 165 more throughout the Dublin-Kildare area, it says. \u201cWhen a barge goes into dry dock, it takes five to seven days to complete maintenance.\u201d<\/p>\n

A functional graving dock would create a vibrant hub of activity, it says. \u201cIt would also be a logical solution to a huge problem that over 200 boaters face every three years.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The front bar of the Marker Hotel was packed with people, chatting lively over drinks while icy gusts…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":422586,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[61,60,43],"class_list":["post-422585","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ireland","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/422585","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=422585"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/422585\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/422586"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=422585"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=422585"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=422585"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}