Should road projects in Northern Ireland be funded by the Republic of Ireland?

sonnyblack

marno21 wrote: »

No funding was allocated to accelerate this scheme in the Capital plan, so it will start construction in Q1 2020.

https://www.kildarestreet.com/debates/?id=2017-11-22a.93

Why are the government prioritizing contributing to the A5 over a much needed bypass in our own jurisdiction. Get our own house in order first and worry about the A5 later

marno21

sonnyblack wrote: »

Why are the government prioritizing contributing to the A5 over a much needed bypass in our own jurisdiction. Get our own house in order first and worry about the A5 later

Not even that. Why is the A5 being prioritised when the roads the A5 connects to in the Republic (N2/N14) are in as bad a condition?

riddlinrussell

marno21 wrote: »

Not even that. Why is the A5 being prioritised when the roads the A5 connects to in the Republic (N2/N14) are in as bad a condition?

Because its shovel ready, although almost definitely going to get legal challenges against it as soon as they try to go live with it.

Leonard Hofstadter

I completely agree with the above. Crazy that we are funding a road in what is technically a foreign country. I know this is not a politics forum, but we don't even know if we'll be able to freely cross into NI like we currently can until the Brexit talks are resolved. If there is a hard Brexit then this road is no good to us at all.

Doltanian

captainspeed wrote: »

I completely agree with the above. Crazy that we are funding a road in what is technically a foreign country. I know this is not a politics forum, but we don't even know if we'll be able to freely cross into NI like we currently can until the Brexit talks are resolved. If there is a hard Brexit then this road is no good to us at all.

Lets not get political but in my book a road in Northern Ireland is just as deserving of taxpayers money as the Macroom Bypass and I would be using the Macroom Bypass weekly when its opened wheras I may use the new NI road once a decade. We need to be investing on an all-Island approach and should be willing to fund 50% of Northern Irish infrastructure project with the rest coming from the UK treasury. If unity is ever to happen we need to prepare the projects like this are a good way to start and also to help buy goodwill from the anti-Irish element up there.

Benildus

Doltanian wrote: »

Lets not get political but in my book a road in Northern Ireland is just as deserving of taxpayers money as the Macroom Bypass and I would be using the Macroom Bypass weekly when its opened wheras I may use the new NI road once a decade. We need to be investing on an all-Island approach and should be willing to fund 50% of Northern Irish infrastructure project with the rest coming from the UK treasury. If unity is ever to happen we need to prepare the projects like this are a good way to start and also to help buy goodwill from the anti-Irish element up there.

no, no, no

Irish taxpayers/EU money is to be spent on Irish roads not on roads in a foreign jurisdiction.

Doltanian

Benildus wrote: »

no, no, no

Irish taxpayers/EU money is to be spent on Irish roads not on roads in a foreign jurisdiction.

Sending hundreds of millions to corrupt African dictatorships I disagree with however if you consider Northern Irish as foreign then it is you who is the foreigner here I am afraid.

Benildus

Doltanian wrote: »

Sending hundreds of millions to corrupt African dictatorships I disagree with however if you consider Northern Irish as foreign then it is you who is the foreigner here I am afraid.

It is a part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, therefore a foreign jurisdiction. They can build their own roads

BelfastVanMan

Doltanian wrote: »

captainspeed wrote: »

I completely agree with the above. Crazy that we are funding a road in what is technically a foreign country. I know this is not a politics forum, but we don't even know if we'll be able to freely cross into NI like we currently can until the Brexit talks are resolved. If there is a hard Brexit then this road is no good to us at all.

Lets not get political but in my book a road in Northern Ireland is just as deserving of taxpayers money as the Macroom Bypass and I would be using the Macroom Bypass weekly when its opened wheras I may use the new NI road once a decade. We need to be investing on an all-Island approach and should be willing to fund 50% of Northern Irish infrastructure project with the rest coming from the UK treasury. If unity is ever to happen we need to prepare the projects like this are a good way to start and also to help buy goodwill from the anti-Irish element up there.

Agreed.

Benildus

BelfastVanMan wrote: »

Agreed.

Considering your name, it's no surprise you'd want money from the Irish government to fund roads in your country

marno21

MOD:

This has nothing to do with the Macroom bypass so posts moved.

This is for discussion of road schemes such as the A5 & the A8 and whether they deserve ROI funding or not.

No targeting of certain posters. Discuss the roads and Governments not the posters.

marno21

Benildus wrote: »

Considering your name, it's no surprise you'd want money from the Irish government to fund roads in your country

None of this from now on.

BelfastVanMan

I certainly think NI should help fund the N2. It works both ways.

Cookiemunster

BelfastVanMan wrote: »

I certainly think NI should help fund the N2. It works both ways.

How does it work both ways? What roads are the UK taxpayer funding in Ireland?
The simple fact is that right now NI is part of one of the richest countries in the world and shouldn't need money from a country that's barely out of a recession to help build it's roads.

CIARAN_BOYLE

The Irish government should consider the value it receives and base it's investment accordingly.

Ie if the a5 is considered an important part of our links with Donegal and link roads (N2 etc) are not more in need of upgrade then contributing should be considered. However safeguards need to be taken.

For example an ambulance transfer from Donegal to Dublin should use this road, I believe it currently travels via Sligo. A prisoner transfer from Dublin to Donegal should also use this road instead of travelling through Sligo as we have no powers to hold or transfer prisoners through the united kingdom.

Similarly there should be guarantees that we can continue to use this road whatever happens going forward with regard to Brexit.

riddlinrussell

Cookiemunster wrote: »

How does it work both ways? What roads are the UK taxpayer funding in Ireland?
The simple fact is that right now NI is part of one of the richest countries in the world and shouldn't need money from a country that's barely out of a recession to help build it's roads.

While my personal feeling is that NI should help with the construction of the N2 as a reciprocal gesture to the funding of the A5, the Irish government is part funding this road is for one real reason, its the main and best access road to Donegal. If you want to access Letterkenny there is no better way to get there than the A5.

The Irish government has a choice of part funding the A5, vastly improving access for Donegal and making it harder, in the event of a hard border, for the UK to deny access via a road they part funded (Idealistic thinking I know but maybe before the first sod is turned they could seek guarantees that they can retain access in return for their funding.)

Alternatively, at much greater expense they could create a high quality dual carriageway from Dublin, via Sligo, Ballyshannon, Donegal town, through Barnsmore, bypass Stranorlar, and then dual all the way up to Letterkenny via Lifford.

Part funding this road saves them money in the long run, gives them breathing room for improving the alternative route via Sligo, and has added benefit of showing the neglected western half of NI that the south at least cares for their wellbeing, which would only benefit them in any potential United Ireland referendum (Not that I want to be getting into that here...).

cgcsb

Absolutely not, it may have made sense years ago. The A8(M) upgrade to Larne made sense for the Republic because it gave improved port access at Larne for Irish businesses shipping to Scotland and England. However now those Irish trucks will be paying customs tarrifs because of Brexit so the UK should be refunding Ireland for that contribution which was made on the understanding of customs free trading.

Similarly trucks using the new A5 will be paying customs duties to HMR on a road that we paid for, so no, pull the plug on funding asap. The people of Northern Ireland are choosing to remain in the UK for the foreseeable, let them pay for it so. They can pay their own Brexit bill and they can pay for their own infrastructure. Time to grow up and act like adults I'm afraid, no more coddling. If they change their minds in the future, and want to become a region of the Republic, that's fine we can discuss a package of infrastructure improvement then.

It being the main access for Donegal doesn't really matter, at the present rate of decline there'll hardly be anyone left in Donegal in 50 years.

BelfastVanMan

Cookiemunster wrote: »

BelfastVanMan wrote: »

I certainly think NI should help fund the N2. It works both ways.

How does it work both ways? What roads are the UK taxpayer funding in Ireland?
The simple fact is that right now NI is part of one of the richest countries in the world and shouldn't need money from a country that's barely out of a recession to help build it's roads.

They aren't.
I'm saying they should, re the N2. :-/

SeanW

One thing that is important to understand is that the Republic uses Northern roads in a way that doesn't really work in reverse. Most journeys between Donegal and the other 25 counties involve travel through Northern Ireland This includes everything from Letterkenny to points south which is best done on the A5, and travel between Ballyshannon and anywhere other than Connaught, such travel is best done on the N3 which is actually a two part road with a "Virtual N3" in Northern Ireland, from the M50 to the border just beyond Belturbet, and again from Belleek to Ballyshannon with the A508 and A46 being the gap. Other Republic-Republic travel uses Northern roads as well, such as Cavan-Monaghan and Dundalk-Castleblaney. So, yes, since we use Northern roads, especially the effective N2, N3, N53 and N54 segments up there, it's totally appropriate for us to help fund them.

By contrast, there are not many NI-NI journeys that require travel through the Republic.

discodaveirl

So Leo coughs up for the A5 and then in 2020 theres two customs points put on the road and we are checked to se if we are eligible to use the road... As we are at the moment any southern hgv crossing the border are subject to a daily tariff

Anonamoose

"Should road projects in Northern Ireland be funded by the Republic of Ireland?"

Why would the Irish soccer team pay for a road in Northern Ireland?

It's covered by the good Friday agreement, simple as.

That's why the Irish government has invested in Northern Ireland, its why the EU, World Bank, USA, UK etc etc etc have all poured money into Northern Ireland.

Kevwoody

cgcsb wrote: »

Absolutely not, it may have made sense years ago. The A8(M) upgrade to Larne made sense for the Republic because it gave improved port access at Larne for Irish businesses shipping to Scotland and England. However now those Irish trucks will be paying customs tarrifs because of Brexit so the UK should be refunding Ireland for that contribution which was made on the understanding of customs free trading.

Similarly trucks using the new A5 will be paying customs duties to HMR on a road that we paid for, so no, pull the plug on funding asap. The people of Northern Ireland are choosing to remain in the UK for the foreseeable, let them pay for it so. They can pay their own Brexit bill and they can pay for their own infrastructure. Time to grow up and act like adults I'm afraid, no more coddling. If they change their minds in the future, and want to become a region of the Republic, that's fine we can discuss a package of infrastructure improvement then.

It being the main access for Donegal doesn't really matter, at the present rate of decline there'll hardly be anyone left in Donegal in 50 years.

What an ignorant and typically "there's no life outside the M50" bull**** comment regarding Donegal.
Sure lets just block it off and let it rot!

Middle Man

Kevwoody wrote: »

What an ignorant and typically "there's no life outside the M50" bull**** comment regarding Donegal.
Sure lets just block it off and let it rot!

+1

If I was from Donegal, I'd be extremely angry with the comment pertaining to the county. It is ignorant, small minded and childish.

Kevwoody

Middle Man wrote:

If I was from Donegal, I'd be extremely angry with the comment pertaining to the county. It is ignorant, small minded and childish.

Unfortunately it has been the mindset of almost every government up until now.
I travel all over the country for work, and the contrast in Donegal and the rest of the country in regards to infrastructure and transport links is unreal.

cgcsb

SeanW wrote: »

One thing that is important to understand is that the Republic uses Northern roads in a way that doesn't really work in reverse. Most journeys between Donegal and the other 25 counties involve travel through Northern Ireland This includes everything from Letterkenny to points south which is best done on the A5, and travel between Ballyshannon and anywhere other than Connaught, such travel is best done on the N3 which is actually a two part road with a "Virtual N3" in Northern Ireland, from the M50 to the border just beyond Belturbet, and again from Belleek to Ballyshannon with the A508 and A46 being the gap. Other Republic-Republic travel uses Northern roads as well, such as Cavan-Monaghan and Dundalk-Castleblaney. So, yes, since we use Northern roads, especially the effective N2, N3, N53 and N54 segments up there, it's totally appropriate for us to help fund them.

By contrast, there are not many NI-NI journeys that require travel through the Republic.

Donegal's population declined 1.5% in the inter-census period. With urbanization finally taking hold in Ireland that is likely to increase. We'd be paying for a motorway in a different country, that we'll have to pay customs on, to access a region that has no growth prospects.

We could at least use that money to build a dual carriageway between Letterkenny and Sligo, a Dublin-Donegal journey would be slightly longer that route but we wouldn't have to pay customs and we wouldn't be donating infrastructure funding to the Bill Gates of nations.

cgcsb

Deleted User wrote: »

It's covered by the good Friday agreement, simple as.

That's why the Irish government has invested in Northern Ireland, its why the EU, World Bank, USA, UK etc etc etc have all poured money into Northern Ireland.

I'd say you may discard the GFA at this stage, the British certainly have no interest in sticking to it.

cgcsb

Kevwoody wrote: »

What an ignorant and typically "there's no life outside the M50" bull**** comment regarding Donegal.
Sure lets just block it off and let it rot!

It is a reality that sparsely populated rural areas will get sparser because of urbanisation. Donegal will continue to exist well into the future albeit with a greatly reduced population, with farming, forestry and tourism being the main employers. That is the reality.

cgcsb

Deedsie wrote: »

Perhaps some decent connections to the rest of Ireland might reverse that decline. "Donegal doesn't really matter" says it all really and your comments should just be ignored/disregarded. Donegal is just as deserving as any other county of decent investment. With proper connections Donegal tourism could boom.

I never said "Donegal doesn't really matter" please don't misquote me, it's extremely dishonest.

Building a new road to Donegal that will reduce journey times slightly will not reverse population decline. Indeed population decline in remote locations isn't a bad thing.

Yes tourism in Donegal will continue to grow but it's a low value industry, providing only low waged jobs that may suit students.

Kevwoody

cgcsb wrote:

I never said "Donegal doesn't really matter" please don't misquote me, it's extremely dishonest.

Have you ever actually been outside Dublin?
Letterkenny is one of the largest towns in Ireland with software and IT companies employing thousands of people. But I'm guessing you have an image of stone walls and run down villages.

Cookiemunster

Kevwoody wrote: »

Have you ever actually been outside Dublin?
Letterkenny is one of the largest towns in Ireland with software and IT companies employing thousands of people. But I'm guessing you have an image of stone walls and run down villages.

It's the 23rd largest urban center in the state and 17th outside the cities.

KwackerJack

No

They maybe on the same island however, they are after all a foreign state whether we like it or not.

That's like asking the British Government to help fund the upkeep of the M1 because people from NI use it to go to the Airport!

Also the EU fund a lot of road infrastructure in Ireland and that comes from the taxes, fines and whatever else we pay to the Germans.

Given NI / SI history should relations turn sour they could simply throw up a border and make us pay to cross it whilst being asked a million questions about why we want to use a road we've paid for.

The British government own NI and they should pay for it and not ask the south to help pay for its upkeep.....if they can't afford it then I'm sorry to say that's an issue for GB.......We have our own financial issue to deal with down south

cgcsb

Kevwoody wrote: »

Have you ever actually been outside Dublin?
Letterkenny is one of the largest towns in Ireland with software and IT companies employing thousands of people. But I'm guessing you have an image of stone walls and run down villages.

Yes I've been to Letterkenny, it's a medium sized town and is pretty isolated, the next nearest large town in the Republic is Sligo. That it exists doesn't alter the fact that Donegal's population will be dropping quite significantly over the coming decades. Urbanisation is the reality and to that end Donegal's population may become increasingly centralized around Letterkenny.

pat ticket

I'd build it, maybe slap a toll or 2 on it. Derry/Letterkenny needs a motorway. The politics of it are messy but that shouldnt detract from its necessity.

Plus, hearts and minds. The British Gov may not care about west of the Bann, but we've got your backs.

cgcsb

KwackerJack wrote: »

No

They maybe on the same island however, they are after all a foreign state whether we like it or not.

That's like asking the British Government to help fund the upkeep of the M1 because people from NI use it to go to the Airport!

Also the EU fund a lot of road infrastructure in Ireland and that comes from the taxes, fines and whatever else we pay to the Germans.

Given NI / SI history should relations turn sour they could simply throw up a border and make us pay to cross it whilst being asked a million questions about why we want to use a road we've paid for.

The British government own NI and they should pay for it and not ask the south to help pay for its upkeep.....if they can't afford it then I'm sorry to say that's an issue for GB.......We have our own financial issue to deal with down south

Exactly, if/when Northerners decide they are no-longer content with British rule, Brexit, Tory cuts, Westminister disinterest and the general grimness, then we can talk about under what conditions we'd be willing to take on the territory. Until then they want to remain loyal to UK's Queen so they'll have to put their money where their mouth is and pay for that loyalty.

The UK is wealthy enough to connect Derry to the Monaghan border if it choses, however the UK is primarily concerned with HS2 in England and Crossrail 2 in London. It's their decision.

cgcsb

pat ticket wrote: »

I'd build it, maybe slap a toll or 2 on it. Derry/Letterkenny needs a motorway. The politics of it are messy but that shouldnt detract from its necessity.

Plus, hearts and minds. The British Gov may not care about west of the Bann, but we've got your backs.

Average joe isn't aware of how infrastructure projects are funded. Build a Letterkenny-Sligo motorway and then 'west of the Bann' will see what nice things they could have if they were on this side of the line.

Kevwoody

cgcsb wrote:

Average joe isn't aware of how infrastructure projects are funded. Build a Letterkenny-Sligo motorway and then 'west of the Bann' will see what nice things they could have if they were on this side of the line.

As an "average Joe" I at least know that Letterkenny to Sligo doesn't have the traffic numbers to justify building a motorway, where as the A5 does, as it will serve the entire north west including Derry.
Even with a motorway to Sligo, what then? The N4? Yea because that's a great road. The truth is even with a motorway to Sligo, most Donegal traffic would still use the A5.

marno21

Kevwoody wrote: »

As an "average Joe" I at least know that Letterkenny to Sligo doesn't have the traffic numbers to justify building a motorway, where as the A5 does, as it will serve the entire north west including Derry.
Even with a motorway to Sligo, what then? The N4? Yea because that's a great road. The truth is even with a motorway to Sligo, most Donegal traffic would still use the A5.

Sorry Kev I don't see the logic here. The northern end of the A5 is heavy with commuter traffic to Derry, and there's a lot of traffic around the towns along the route. The more rural parts down near the border have low traffic figures, far off warranting a motorway. The A5 is to be built to 2+2 standards.

The N4 from Sligo to Dublin is a higher standard than the N2 from Ardee to the border and the N14 from Letterkenny to Lifford is a glorified boreen too.

My approach here would be improving all the connecting roads in the Republic first then taking the North. Before we fund the A5 we need to:

* Finalise a route corridor from Dublin to the Border and upgrade this to the required standard. We seem to be looking at M1-Ardee-Emyvale for this.
* Upgrade the route from Letterkenny to Lifford to connect with the A5 at Strabane.
* Finalise plans to connect the N14/N15 and A5 at Strabane itself
* Bypass Ballybofey and Stranorlar on the N15, and Letterkenny on the north eastern quadrant
* Improve the N3 from Ballyshannon to Belleek (shocking stretch of road)
* Bypass Virginia on the N3
* Improve the N17 and N15.
* Narrow Water Bridge?

Lots of work to be done in the South first. Spending Republic money on the A8 to Larne before projects in the Republic was a deplorable decision.

Charles Babbage

Donegal isn't particularly economically unsustainable, it has just been shafted by partition, something that will hopefully come to an end in the medium term. Derry city is a significant population centre which has not been able to fully play its role, which would benefit many parts of Donegal.

If the British wish to rule Tyrone and Fermanagh, against the wishes of the inhabitants, then I do not see why they should not be obliged to provide proper roads there. But since they have not, then perhaps the current EU negotiations are an opportunity to emphasise the adverse effect of any regulatory and economic dislocation on Donegal and either require the British to build proper transit routes or have the EU contribute to the project (using the money Britain gives them).

How much money from Dublin was actually spent on the A8 (as distinct from proposed to be spent)?

Rather than paying for the upgrade of the A5, I would have proposed a new route on the west bank of the Foyle, perhaps close to the old rail alignment, from Strabane to Derry. A shorter improved N14 could have connected to this which could be used both by traffic from points south and from the southern side of Derry city to Letterkenny.

marno21

Charles Babbage wrote: »

Donegal isn't particularly economically unsustainable, it has just been shafted by partition, something that will hopefully come to an end in the medium term. Derry city is a significant population centre which has not been able to fully play its role, which would benefit many parts of Donegal.

If the British wish to rule Tyrone and Fermanagh, against the wishes of the inhabitants, then I do not see why they should not be obliged to provide proper roads there. But since they have not, then perhaps the current EU negotiations are an opportunity to emphasise the adverse effect of any regulatory and economic dislocation on Donegal and either require the British to build proper transit routes or have the EU contribute to the project (using the money Britain gives them).

Indeed. Whatever about Cork-Limerick the fact that there's no decent road from Derry to Belfast is ridiculous. And it looks like we'll have a better road to Dublin before time too.

Kevwoody

marno21 wrote:

Lots of work to be done in the South first. Spending Republic money on the A8 to Larne before projects in the Republic was a deplorable decision.

I completely understand your point Marno, everything on your list is required to bring Donegal roads up to standard. This is a different decision than the A8 however, as this road will benefit the republic (Donegal) as much as it will northern Ireland.
The simple point of the matter is, Donegal requires a decent link to Dublin, and going via Sligo would be a waste of money and resources.

Kevwoody

Btw, I never said I think the Irish government should fund the A5, I entered this thread to simply make the point Donegal shouldn't be written off and forgotten about, after a ridiculous post by another user.

flaneur

With uncertainty over Brexit borders; absolutely not one cent should be spent on this.

It’s absolutely idiotic to spend money in Northern Ireland on roads we may be unable to use for goods transport and so on anyway.

It could even be a valuable political point to be made as there are consequences to Brexit.

Donegal is going to need road upgrades to connect it into the Irish road network via Sligo if there’s a hard border. That’s where the money should be going.

road_high

cgcsb wrote: »

Yes I've been to Letterkenny, it's a medium sized town and is pretty isolated, the next nearest large town in the Republic is Sligo. That it exists doesn't alter the fact that Donegal's population will be dropping quite significantly over the coming decades. Urbanisation is the reality and to that end Donegal's population may become increasingly centralized around Letterkenny.

Precisely why it needs excellent road links to Dublin and also down to Galway.

flaneur

You basically need a high quality dual carriageway at least to Sligo and that needs to be linked onwards to Galway and Dublin.

We should be looking at a decent road network connecting in all of those 'necklace' counties around the border.

If anything, we should be looking for funding for this out of the divorce settlement as the border will cause absolute havoc for that region.

The NI road funding was all about interconnecting the Northwest, including Donegal. If the border is going to render that pointless, I think we should just withdraw all funding not he basis of a major change in geopolitics.

road_high

Benildus wrote: »

It is a part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, therefore a foreign jurisdiction. They can build their own roads

The sad reality (and it hasn't dawned on the fanatics in Unionism) is that the so called mainland UK (read England here) couldn't give a flying sh1te about the North- they will always quite instinctively prioritize their own country over some obscure part of Ireland with people that think they are British (an increasingly dated concept in itself as Nationalism has gotten stronger in England, Wales and Scotland).
This is why infrastructure has fallen so far behind here and GB. They are sitting around waiting for everyone else to pay for everything.

road_high

riddlinrussell wrote: »

While my personal feeling is that NI should help with the construction of the N2 as a reciprocal gesture to the funding of the A5, the Irish government is part funding this road is for one real reason, its the main and best access road to Donegal. If you want to access Letterkenny there is no better way to get there than the A5.

The Irish government has a choice of part funding the A5, vastly improving access for Donegal and making it harder, in the event of a hard border, for the UK to deny access via a road they part funded (Idealistic thinking I know but maybe before the first sod is turned they could seek guarantees that they can retain access in return for their funding.)

Alternatively, at much greater expense they could create a high quality dual carriageway from Dublin, via Sligo, Ballyshannon, Donegal town, through Barnsmore, bypass Stranorlar, and then dual all the way up to Letterkenny via Lifford.

Part funding this road saves them money in the long run, gives them breathing room for improving the alternative route via Sligo, and has added benefit of showing the neglected western half of NI that the south at least cares for their wellbeing, which would only benefit them in any potential United Ireland referendum (Not that I want to be getting into that here...).

With what? Magic beans? This is an economic basket case, totally reliant on public sector jobs paid for by an increasingly reticent English taxpayer.

flaneur

It's dawned on a lot of unionists, just not the hardcore who probably will be least impacted anyway as they tend not to be the element of the unionist side of Northern Ireland who are economically productive or have aspirations to have a decent, prosperous place to live.

The majority of people I've spoken to in NI from both unionist and nationals backgrounds who have jobs (or hopes to get one), have long term ambitions to have a decent life, businesses, kids away in college, and so on are extremely pragmatic about the need for borderless travel. The people who aren't are generally a political hardcore of unionist/loyalist politicians who have a constituency that is largely made up of a bunch of layabouts who cause regular physical mayhem and contribute very little.

The majority of the population of Northern Ireland are not like that and they are the people who will be facing financial ruin due to these policies.

cgcsb

road_high wrote: »

Precisely why it needs excellent road links to Dublin and also down to Galway.

Which is why I would advocate for a North-South Dual carriageway between Letterkenny and Sligo.

exaisle

Benildus wrote: »

It is a part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, therefore a foreign jurisdiction. They can build their own roads

If you think about it, we build most of their roads anyhow... ;-)

cgcsb

Drive from Dublin-Belfast and you will run out of quality(Irish funded) dual carriageway just north of Newry. You'll then have to endure dangerous right-hand turners across the central reserve and roundabouts. Plainly there is no will in the UK to provide better roads between NI and the ROI. Why on earth would we feel the need to fill the gap.