Landowners in limbo over road funding

Landowners and ­residents look like they will be stuck in limbo by the proposed emerging route for a new motorway, following official confirmation that funding of between €100 and €120 million needed for the project has not been ring-fenced.
Transport Minister Leo Varadkar has confirmed it is unlikely that Phase Two of the Northern Distributor Road linking Meelick with Annacotty will progress any further than route selection at this time due to current financial difficulties.
In response to a Dáil question tabled by Limerick East Deputy Willie O’Dea, Minister Varadkar explained priority has to being given to providing funding for projects that are already committed to.
“However, I understand this project is part of a long-term plan for the economic development for Limerick City and its environs within County Clare. Completing the route selection stage will enable the preservation of the route corridor for the project in the relevant local authority plans. This will enable the council to progress this project in the future when further funds are available,” he stated.
Deputy O’Dea said it is a bit ironic that the Government should be providing money for studies at a time when they are cutting back on the roads budget for Limerick City where a lot of footpaths need repairs and County Clare, where there are huge issues with roads.
“The Government is ­nowhere near to finding money for this project. It will be many years into the future ­before it goes head with this project.
“If I was a landowner along the route and I couldn’t sell a site or I couldn’t allow one or my family to build a house, I would feel particularly aggrieved.
“Landowners are suffering and the community are ­suffering, particularly the elderly who are extremely worried. 
“The Government should stop this project now and go back to square one and when the country is booming they can look at what infrastrucutre is needed,” he said.
The minister’s response was criticised by one of the organisers of the demonstration, Ed English, in Parteen on Saturday last.
Addressing a crowd of over 200 people outside Browne’s pub, Mr English stated this response was only “long fingering” the issue in the hope that people might go away because they may think the road will not happen.
He recalled residents had successfully campaigned to get a new playground in the village, while the community had also fought off a boundary extension from Limerick City into South-East Clare.
“There is still fight in this community. We will fight this road and we will not forget about it. We are not going to go away,” he declared.
Martina Duffy, Derryfadda Road, Clonlara, claimed by the time Parteen is covered in cement and tarmac by the new motorway, it would ­eventually “flood me out” by the time it reached her home.
“If anyone was listening to 95 FM we heard from senior engineer, Tom Tiernan that the good news is that this road is for you, it is for local traffic. I am not aware of any of us being consulted about getting this road. I know it may be a wonderful gift.
“What I want to say is that we didn’t ask for this road, we don’t need it. Please give us the money for our schools, hospitals and to upgrade the road we already have with potholes,” she said.
Residents from Parteen, Ardnacrusha and Clonlara marched from the Tail Race Bar on the outskirts of the village past the home of historian and author, Donal O’Riain, which is facing demolition, to an area near the local co-operative stores before retracing their steps back to Browne’s pub.
Stewards were provided by Parteen St Nicholas GAA Club and a number of local organisations were represented at the demonstration.
Some of the placards illustrated the depth of anger in the community about the proposed splitting of Parteen in two.
They included ‘RIP Parteen’, ‘RIP Clonlara’, ‘Your Shopping List Septic Tank – €5, Property Tax – €100, Luxury Item Northern Distributor Road Design – €500,000, Construction €100 million, thank you for shopping with Clare County Council’, and ‘To the ­Northern Distributor Road €110 million for a road while patient suffer, to more subsidies for the Limerick Tunnel’.