Canal Decline
Railway and Canal Commission
Ultimately, the slowness of canal transport was too great a disadvantage. The lack of heavy and sustained mineral traffic, combined with physical disabilities confronting barge traffic, led to the erosion and disappearance of commercial traffic and virtual disappearance.
The Railway and Canal Act 1888 established a Railway and Canal Commission of the United Kingdom. It amended the Railway and Canal Traffic Acts 1873.
The Commissioner was appointed on the recommendation of the President of the Board of Trade. Lord Chancellor of Ireland was an ex-officio member.
Regulation
Many of the provisions applicable to the regulation of railway companies was applied to canal companies. Provision was made for publication and regulation of canal rates, tolls and dues.
The Railway and Canals Traffic Act obliged railway and canal companies to afford facilities for receiving and forwarding traffic without delay. They were not entitled to discriminate or give undue preference or prejudice. They were bound to provide continuous and unobstructed services for passengers or goods.
The commissioners had certain powers in relation to rates and tolls. Under certain circumstances, they could fix or require changes to the toll. Canal companies were obliged to make returns to the Board of Trades. Their byelaws were subject to approval by the Board.
The Board was given powers to inspect canals where they are in a state of disrepair or such as to impede traffic. Inspectors were entitled to exercise powers.
The legislation dealt with the liability for loss and damage. Special remedies were provided for breach of the Act.
Post-Independence
The Railway Act 1924 vested the functions of the Railway and Canal Commission in the Railway Tribunal. At that time, the principal canal undertakers were the Grand Canal Company, the Royal Canal Company and the River Shannon Navigation.
Upon the formation of CIE in 1945, the Royal Canal, formerly the property of the Midland Great Western Railway since 1845, became vested in CIE. The Transport Act 1944, which incorporated CIE dissolving and incorporation Great Southern Railway and Dublin United Transport Company, transferred securities held by the Minister for Finance as successor to the exchequer under the Royal Canal Act, 1818, to CIE.
The Milne report in 1947 recommended the Grand Canal Company be acquired by CIE under the Transport Act 1944. Ultimately, they were merged by the 1950 Act. The Transport Tribunal under the 1950 Act adjudicated railway lines and canal closures.
The River Shannon Navigation was vested in the Commissioners of Public Works. The legislation provided for the regulation of maximum canal charges and a classification of merchandise applicable to undertakers and schedules of maximum charges.
Nationalised CIE
The Transport Act 1950 reincorporated and nationalised CIE and provided for the transfer of the Grand Canal Company to it. The Board had an obligation to keep certain canals or parts of canals open for operations. The Grand Canal Company was dissolved.
After 1950 the Royal Canal and Grand Canal came under single administration in CIE. The road transport activities of Grand Canal Company were merged into CIE’s Road Freight Section. The Grand Canal Company had been profitable before the merger.
The 1950 legislation required CIE to maintain the canals until terminated in accordance with law. The powers of the Transport Tribunal continued after 1950. The power to decide the closing of lines and canals was vested in the tribunal.
The provisions of the Victorian legislation, the Railway and Canal Traffic Acts, were applied to the Board. The Board was deemed to be a Railway and Canal Company for the purpose of the legislation.
Where a canal had not been used for public navigation for three years, the Board was entitled to apply to the tribunal established under the Act to close the canal. A procedure was applied to the closure.
The 1958 Act simplified the procedure for the closure of a canal. The Transport Act 1960 enabled CIE to close the Royal Canal.
Royal Canal Post WWII
The lack of fuel during the Second World War led to a brief revival of the canals 100 years after their eclipse by the railways.Some Commercial freight continued on the canals after the War.
The Royal Canal was 95 miles.  A branch in County Kildare, a four-mile stretch was closed to navigation since 1952 and was abandoned under order in 1955. It was drained.
The Royal Canal had ceased carrying traffic at all some years earlier. The last surviving operators ceased to trade in 1951. Under the legislation, CIE was obliged to keep the canal open. The canal was formally closed on 6th April 1961. A dam was built across the canal three miles west of Mullingar.
Grand Canal Post WWII
The Grand Canal’s mileage was 361 miles, including the Shannon and River Barrow Navigation System. The Dublin-Limerick traffic continued for the convenience of Guinness, which transported kegs by canal for over 100 years. They also travelled on the canal system to Waterford and Carrick on Shannon. In the reverse direction, empties were returned to Dublin.
Malt traffic was important on the Barrow from the barley-growing regions of Kilkenny and Carlow. Movements of sugar from the sugar factory provided significant traffic for the canal in its final years. Fertilisers, tar and pitch had also been transported.
Freights still moved on the Grand Canal in the mid-1950s. The level of freight declined. Cement traffic, beet and malt remained significant. In the mid-1950s, fifty-car barges were in service with annual tonnages of over 85,000. A number of businesses operated their own barges, although, in time, they declined.
There was a proposal under the Transport Act 1958 that the CIE should cease trading on the Grand Canal. The Bettie Report supported the proposal to withdraw canal services. A light level of trading was still undertaken.
Ultimately, CIE barges withdrew from the Grand Canal and associated waterways on the 1st of January 1960. The Limerick-Dublin traffic was granted an extension.
Shortly afterwards, the Naas, Kilbeggan and Ballinasloe branches of the Grand Canal were closed. Proposals were mooted to develop the canals for amenity purposes.
Leisure Use
In 1953, CIE requested the Minister for Industry and Commerce to amend the Grand Canal by-laws to permit pleasure boats to be used. The Herbertstown Branch from Corbally to Naas was closed, and the transport tribunal released CIE from its obligation to keep the branch open for navigation.
The Shannon cruises were closed in the early 1970s, a service that operated for 20 years. By the 1970s, the canals had become virtually non-trading and were costing £0.25 million a year.
Proposals were made to transfer the canals to the OPW as early as the 1970s. Ultimately, the Canals Act 1986 vested the canals in the Office of Public Works and passed from CIEs care.