A5 – Slugger O'Toole

A fresh start for the A5 – but at what cost?

Andy Boal on November 19, 2015, 1:55 pm

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Disclaimer: being a strong public transport advocate does not stop me from enjoying the open road, gliding effortlessly past slower traffic [You don’t say – Ed] Indeed – but we all have too many things to do that cannot conveniently be done by bike, bus or train… Mick has already considered the opportunity cost of the £75 million promised by the Irish Government for the A5 scheme from Newbuildings to Strabane, although I think that money could buy several Narrow …

“Fresh Start” shows that ‘deals’ can be painful, yes. But impossible, certainly not.

Mick Fealty on November 18, 2015, 12:47 pm

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BEYOND BUNKUM: Small changes over time can shift the future a very long way. The trouble is that it takes courage, vision and enormous patience to effect even such small changes. FRESH START was a long time coming. But for now, just agreeing to set a budget may be small change enough.

“it is important that other schemes that may be in a position to be progressed ahead of the A5 are given full consideration by the Executive”

Pete Baker on April 15, 2013, 5:35 pm

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As the BBC report, the Northern Ireland Regional Development Minister, the UUP’s Danny Kennedy, has announced that his department will not be appealing the Belfast High Court ruling quashing the decision to go ahead with the controversial A5 £330m dual carriageway project. A “costly mistake [not appealing] but will not be the end of this project“, according to the “Sinn Féin MLA for West Tyrone and member of the Regional Development Minister [sic], Declan McAleer”. The chair of the NI Assembly’s Regional Development Committee, the …

A5 ruling: “They should not be left in any doubt about what may or may not occur…”

Pete Baker on April 8, 2013, 6:18 pm

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The Northern Ireland Department for Regional Development have 7 days to appeal the Belfast High Court ruling issued today quashing the decision to go ahead with the controversial A5 £330m dual carriageway project. As the BBC reports Following the verdict, lawyers for the department sought to have the court order put on hold. They wanted time to meet a requirement to carry out an appropriate assessment required under the directive. But Mr Justice Stephens refused, citing the potential for a public inquiry and potential scope …

£16 million wasted, Hidden cost of A5.

Drumlins Rock on February 15, 2011, 12:22 pm

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As reported on the BBC this morning, and hi-light by Roy Beggs East Antrim MLA two weeks ago, Conor Murphy has written off £16 million spent on a scheme up-grading the A2 at Greenisland, in order to fund his politically motivated A5 white elephant in Tyrone. It is a bit strange for a Tyrone man like myself to be putting the case for an infrastructure development in Greater Belfast in preference to one in Tyrone, but the Scot’s ancestry in …