N11/N25 - Oilgate to Rosslare Harbour [route options published]

IMF complaint about council spending

A LOCAL community group has made a complaint to the IMF and the EU about “totally unacceptable levels” of county council spending on motorway projects.

The Joint Committee of Communities (JCC), which is opposed to the Oylegate to Rosslare Harbour motorway, claims that both the local authority and the National Roads’ Authority are squandering money on “yet another ghost road’ project.
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“Motorways do little for local trade and development – take, for example, the Arklow and Drogheda bypasses and the disastrous affect on local trade in those towns.
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“Half way through the meeting, when the county manager was reading his report, they stood up and held up placards. I asked them to put them down and they did but a couple of minutes later they put them back up again so I asked them to leave.

“It’s as simple as that,” he said, adding that the group had disrupted the meeting when they held up the signs.

Speaking at a recent county council meeting, county manager Eddie Breen was forthright in his defence of the Oylegate Rosslare motorway, saying it was a vital infrastructural project that was essential for the economic development of the county.

MYOB wrote: »

The original Drogheda "bypass" dates to the 1970s ffs; and if anything the proper motorway bypass has freed up the town to more trade.

NO MONEY FOR NEW OYLEGATE-ROSSLARE ROUTE

THERE is no realistic prospect of the controversial Oylegate to Rosslare Harbour motorway being built in the foreseeable future due to a lack of funding, the National Roads Authority has admitted in a letter to Fine Gael TD Liam Twomey.
However, the NRA is pressing ahead with the selection of a preferred route for the multimillion Euro project with a view to having it ready when finance does eventually become available.
The news has angered the Joint Committee of Communities against the motorway, who believe the decision will result in the lives of residents, farmers and business people along the chosen route being thrown into limbo for an indefinite period of time.

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Mr Egan added that the NRA will revisit the Oylegate to Rosslare road when State finances improve and will consider the possibility of ‘phased construction' in the event that the funding situation at the time does not permit the scheme to progress as a single contract.
‘Route selection work is well advanced at this stage and it should not take too much longer to finalise,' Mr Egan told the Fine Gael TD,
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The Joint Committee of Communities ..is now incensed by the decision to select a route and ‘freeze' it, even though the prospect of funding is remote.
‘ The NRA is acknowledging that there isn't money available, there will not be for the foreseeable future and in fact there may never be,' said chairman Michael Carroll.
‘ This is an absolutely scandalous situation which will result in people's lives being placed on hold indefinitely. It's completely unacceptable for the NRA and Wexford County Council to put people in this position,' he said.

Tremelo wrote: »

Interesting that they're considering phased construction too. You'd have to imagine this would apply to other primaries yet to be done, such as parts of the N24.

mac.the.hat wrote: »

I'm at total a loss to understand why you would like to see peoples lives destroyed. It's got very little to do with one off houses and has a lot to do with the normal development of farms and properties. For example, farmers won't be permitted to build news sheds or develop their farms for a long long time and they on't be able to sell or buy land... how is that fair? What about people who would like to buy or sell their houses and who won't be able to do that? Again, how is that fair?

Enniscorthy Echo wrote:

“We recognise that there is no realistic prospect of this scheme ...” wrote Michael Egan, in a leaked email to Fine Gael TD Liam Twomey.