A CLARE MEP has equated rehashed Government announcements on road funding for the county to “very old wine in new bottles”.
On Friday, Minister for Transport Darragh O’Brien (FF) announced an allocation of €39,389,500 for Clare’s regional and local roads.
Of this allocation, €17.5m will be invested in restoring the network, €14,259,000 for the improvement of roads,
Over €370,000 will fund new speed limit signs, €640,000 is set aside to complete safety improvement works at eleven locations. Almost €800,000 will be allocated to drainage works, €700,000 will go towards bridge maintenance, and over €700,000 is ringfenced for climate change adaption and resilience works.
Minister O’Brien’s allocation also included €13.3m towards the completion of the Shannon Bridge Crossing, this aspect is not a new funding announcement. There is also €11.45m for the Coonagh to Knockalisheen Distributor Road Scheme.
Ireland South MEP, Michael McNamara (IND) said the Shannon Crossing and Killaloe Bypass must be the most rehashed government announcement ever. “Now, finally almost complete, every government has announced the project anew since former Environment Minister Alan Kelly put it into the National Development Plan in 2015, the €13.39 million announced last week will effectively be for works already undertaken but presumably not yet paid for”.
He continued, “I, and the others who will soon use the new bridge and already use the bypass are very grateful to Séan Lenihan and his team on Clare County Council, the lead local authority, and Ger McGrath and his team at Sisk for finally bringing the project to effective completion”.
McNamara concluded: “The announcement of €11.5 million for the Coonagh to Knockalisheen Distributor Road Scheme will go towards financing the contract signed in January to complete that portion of the Northern Distributor Road, which was previously announced three years ago but stalled when the contractor, Roadbridge, went into liquidation. Nevertheless, unless continued, as originally envisaged, it remains a road to nowhere, with more of a political purpose than an infrastructural one”.
