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Waterways Ireland are delighted to announce work began on site on 6th January 2025 to upgrade the public realm on Dublin’s Grand Canal along Wilton Terrace on the northern towpath along Wilton Terrace, between Baggot St and Leeson St bridges. The public realm upgrade, expected to be complete by early summer 2025, is a public-private partnership, co-funded by Waterways Ireland and IPUT Real Estate Dublin, Ireland’s leading commercial property company.
The investment will improve amenities along the canal bank including increased accessibility for pedestrians and mobility aide users and enhanced public seating. Two existing narrow paths will be replaced by one wider path and a canal-bank set-aside area. The enhancements have been sensitively and carefully designed to ensure the character and heritage of the area is preserved and protected.
The collaboration between Waterways Ireland and IPUT will deliver a high-quality urban space which will complement the recent restoration of the nearby Wilton Park by IPUT. It will reinforce the ‘sense of place’ people already have for this stretch of the Canal, create space in the city for people to fully engage with the Canal and its environs and positively contribute to making Dublin a climate resilient city. Enhancements to biodiversity include improving habitats for wildlife, additional native planting schemes and protection for existing trees so they can continue to thrive.
This stretch of canal is a unique area in Dublin city, boasting one of the widest urban canal towpaths and a number of Dublin city’s finest tree specimens. The canal corridor is important for biodiversity in the city, with evidence of otters and bats in this location. It is located within a Georgian Conservation area and is strongly associated with literary Dublin - the much-loved Patrick Kavanagh statue is located on this stretch, which is one of the most photographed locations in Dublin. The statue will be protected throughout the works.
Pedestrian counters record some of the highest footfall in the city in this area, which will increase further when nearby office developments open, with up to 5,000 new workers in the area.
Dublin based landscape architects, BSLA, led the design of the project, which is being delivered by award-winning international landscape architecture firm Maylim.
Recent research shows that 26% of the population of the Island of Ireland visited Grand Canal / Grand Canal Dock in the past 12 months. The primary reasons for visiting are Walking (50%), Tourist visit (21%), Mental wellbeing/ mindfulness (16%) and running/jogging (16%). 81% of visitors agree that spending time at a waterway significantly contributes to their overall well-being and mental health*.
Waterways Ireland’s 10-Year Plan and 2025 Business Plan call out Greater Dublin as its most transformative opportunity to deliver for the public good: to reimagine how locals and visitors experience and traverse the city and surrounding areas; to make a climate positive impact through traffic reduction by hosting more journeys on the Grand Canal and Royal Canal Greenways.
John Mc Donagh, Chief Executive Officer at Waterways Ireland said: “Waterways Ireland’s ambition is the sustainable development of iconic / transformative projects which ‘make a difference’ at scale, for the public good. We are delighted to announce this unique collaboration with IPUT Real Estate to enhance and preserve this stretch of the Grand Canal in Dublin, for the benefit of all. The recent stakeholder engagement process has been unanimously welcoming and positive towards the upgrade, which will maximise the amenity value of the area for all comers while supporting it as a busy commuting area.”
Niall Gaffney, Chief Executive at IPUT Real Estate Dublin, commented: “Wilton Park is an important city centre location with strong links to Dublin’s literary history. We are proud to have recently completed the restoration of the city park and launched Mary Lavin Place in honour of one of Ireland’s most celebrated women writers.
We are now proud to work with Waterways Ireland to upgrade the banks of Dublin’s Grand Canal, providing enhanced amenities for residents, our occupiers and visitors to the area. We believe this investment will continue to enhance the attractiveness and vibrancy of Dublin’s city centre which we have been investing in for the past 60 years.”
*Nationally representative quantitative research carried out by W5, Sept – Oct 2024