Mayo councillors divided on speed limit reductions

The Department of Transport has been accused of being ‘little Hitlers’ and holding a gun to the heads of councillors in Mayo by forcing the reduction of speed limits throughout the county.

In an effort to reduce the number of deaths on the country's roads, the Minister for Transport introduced legislation which will see the default speed limit on local and regional roads reduced from 80km per hour to 60km per hour.

The decision has angered many councillors in Mayo who claimed that the initiative will not save lives but this assessment was not unanimously held, with some councillors saying that motorists having to add another ten minutes on their journey will reduce the risk of serious accidents and deaths.

The issue was debated at yesterday's (Monday) monthly meeting of Mayo County Council where councillors voted to defer the adoption of by-laws to allow the speed limit on five local roads to remain at 80 km per hour.

Before the vote was taken, some councillors expressed their dismay at the new speed limits on local and regional roads and described the decision to reduce the default speed limit to 60km per hour as 'kneejerk'.

Fianna Fáil councillor Michael Loftus was among the speakers against the reduction of the speed limit on local roads, saying that a 'little Hitler' approach has been taken by the Department in relation to how they deal with local councillors.

'Absolutely crazy'

“To me it is little Hitler dictating to us and putting a gun to our heads and saying this is what is going to happen if we don't agree to it. I think it is absolutely crazy. If this new government that is put in place cannot change and we as councillors can't express our feelings to change it, there is something wrong.

“This is wrong for rural areas. If this was going to save a life I would be in total agreement with it but the kneejerk reaction [to reduce speed limits] was based on national roads and not on local roads. It is absolute madness,” he said.

A number of other councillors also spoke against the reduction of the speed limits with Independent councillor Patsy O'Brien saying it is the most ridiculous legislation he has seen come before the council in 20 years.

“It is like driving a nail with a sledgehammer. As far as I am concerned there are roads out there which are capable and there are roads which are not.

“There is no way I will support it and if they want to do it they can do it themselves. If they want to overrule us they are very welcome and they can take the blame and the shame. I am not going to take it. This is heavy handed stuff,” he said.

Erris-based Fine Gael councillor Gerry Coyle also made the analogy of the gun being placed to the head of councillors who he said will have no say as the speed limit reduction will be introduced regardless of what they think.

“Do this or else. We have to agree with them or they will punish us all and get out the big stick. I have never seen anything like this in my life. It is lunacy which is going on here,” he added.

However, a number of councillors spoke in favour of the reduction of speed limits and it was pointed out at the meeting that the number of road deaths in Mayo for 2024 is now at 17.

Speed is a factor

Independent councillor Michael Kiloyne said he visited many crash sites in his role as an undertaker and it was clear to him that speed is a factor in road deaths.

“I have been out at some of these road accidents that have been contributed to by speed. The reason the reduction was brought in was because of the number of deaths, particularly in Mayo, which I think has the highest number this year. There is absolutely no doubt that speed is contributing and if people cannot spend an extra five minutes to get where they are going they will end up in the ditch.

“We need to think very carefully before we reject this. We need to think really carefully,” he said.

Fellow Independent councillor Harry Barrett said that people are terrorised with motorists speeding and are crying out for a reduction in the speed limit. Fine Gael councillors Peter Flynn and Donna Sheridan stated that they could see both sides of the argument but they had no problem with a reduction in the speed limit.

Fianna Fáil councillor Damien Ryan described the legislation as an erosion of the councillor's power to make or amend speed limits and he had serious concerns about reducing the default speed. He proposed that the decision on whether to adopt the special by-laws should be deferred until the January meeting in order for more clarity on the matter from an official from the Department of Transport.

He was supported by Cllr Al McDonnell who pointed out that the legislation to reduce the speed limits will not be introduced until February 7 next and deferring the adoption of the by-laws until January will not make a difference.

Director of Services with responsibility for roads, Tom Gilligan said that a 5 percent reduction in average speed can result in a 30 percent reduction in fatal collisions and that is important. He also pointed out that if the by-laws were not adopted the default speed on the five local roads which meet the criteria to remain at 80km per hour will go to 60km per hour from February 7.

During the discussion, Cllr Loftus suggested that the council correspond with other councils to voice their objection to the speed reductions to bring their case in numbers to the department. However, Kevin Kelly, Chief Executive of Mayo County Council said the legislation has been passed by the Oireachtas and 'nobody can change it'.

Four of the five local roads which met the criteria to remain at 80km per hour are in Erris while the fifth is the L-1127 outside Ballina.

A vote was taken on deferring the decision on adopting of the special by-laws until January and it was supported by 15 votes to 8.