Roads a threat to Mayo jobs

Roads a threat to Mayo jobs

Anton McNulty

THE future of up to 9,000 jobs in Mayo are under ‘serious threat’ because of the poor road infrastructure in the county, according to Mr Sean Hannick, Chairman of the Council for the West.
Mr Hannick called on the next government to give the immediate go-ahead to the roads infrastructure into the county after Mr Fred Barry, Chairman for the National Roads Authority (NRA), called for prioritisation of the outer orbital route around Dublin and the eastern by-pass of the city. Mr Hannick said that manufacturing companies in Mayo are dependent on good distribution routes and they are incurring extra costs because of the conditions of the roads.
“The Council for the West fully supports the Dublin orbital route and the eastern bypass, but surely the people of Mayo, Sligo and Roscommon are entitled to a good road also. The N5 is the worst main access road into any county and we again appeal to whatever government is formed to give the N5 to Strokestown and the remaining sections of the N4 the green light immediately,” he said.
Mr Hannick added that the General Election result, which saw only one government TD elected in the county, was a reflection on the dissatisfaction among the Mayo people with the slow progress in delivering infrastructure projects to the county.
Cllr Michael Holmes of the Western Roads Action Committee agreed with the comments of Mr Hannick and claimed that if the new government consists of only one Mayo TD, it would have consequences on the prospect of future road projects in the county.
He said that while the N5 was improving it was still the worst national primary route in the country and the underspend in the BMW region was ‘clear to see’. He said the general condition of the road network in the county was definitely a turnoff when trying to attract industry to the county.
“I put the lack of investment down to the lack of political power in the county because not since Padraig Flynn has there been much development on the roads. The NRA is supposed to be an independent body but at the end of the day when you look at the roads in Kildare, Laois, Cork and even Donegal, it is evidence of the power at the cabinet table.
“It is disappointing that after going through a boom in the economy, the N5 from Westport to Castlebar and the N26 have not improved over the last ten years. If the dust settles and we end up in a situation where we have only one TD in government we will have a weak team in the Dáil, unless Beverley Flynn can get a deal in return for her support. But if she doesn’t the people of Mayo will have gambled and lost,” he said.