It is expected that the Inland Waterways Boat Rally will arrive in Dublin on 19 April 1997. The Grand Canal festival will start on 17 April with an angling tutorial to be organised with the assistance of the Dublin Angling Initiative through local schools and the event will concentrate on the stretch of canal near the eighth lock. A canals seminar will be convened in Ballyfermot library on 18 April to provide a forum for local interests to air views on the future development of the canal in their area. On 19 April, music, children's activities and water activities will be organised in the area between the M50 bridge and the sixth lock after the incoming boating rally has passed through. There will also be a presentation of awards for a poster competition which will be held at Killeen House, Ballyfermot. The posters will then be put on public display in Ballyfermot library for a week.
It is proposed that a 100 metre timber jetty will be built at the ninth lock. The existing bank will be slightly excavated to allow the structure to be inset into the bank. The estimated cost of the works, including excavation, will be £65,000, and the estimated time for completion will be eight to ten weeks. It is proposed that the work will commence at the end of the current boating season.
