Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
( 01-677 7510;
www.waterwaysireland.org
;
Grand Canal Quay; adult/child €4/2; 10am-6pm Wed-Sun;
Grand Canal Dock)
Recently renovated, this snazzy centre documents the history of Ireland's
waterways and includes exhibits on the city's two canals, as well as an interactive display
that allows visitors to 'drive' a barge. You can also hear the stories of the monsters that
reside in the canal locks.
HERE TODAY, GONE TOMORROW?
As part of the ongoing repercussions of Ireland's banking and financial crisis, most of the snazzy developments
that spearheaded the city's urban regeneration program have encountered massive financial difficulties as the
loans incurred to build them have come due with the owners simply incapable of repaying them. And so it is with
the Docklands' biggest developments, the Bord Gáis Energy Theatre and the Point Village, which in mid-2013
were taken over by the National Asset Management Agency (NAMA), a government body set up in 2009 to man-
age the enormous shortfalls incurred by property developers and speculators. The good news is that NAMA are
slow to close anything down, preferring instead to find some way to turn the distressed business into a more prof-
itable enterprise, which may mean reduced or slimmed-down trading rather than a total shutdown.
