Final leg of €205m Ennis bypass opens after long delay

The final leg of the €205 million Ennis bypass opened yesterday, ending gridlock at one of the country's most notorious bottlenecks.

After months of delay, the opening of the final section of the road removes heavy traffic from the adjoining village of Clarecastle.

Clare county engineer Tom Carey said: "It is a very important day for Ennis and for the village of Clarecastle, where the traffic that has been going through the village will never be seen again."

Two previous sections of the 22km scheme were completed by Gama Construction in January and June of this year, although the entire scheme was due for completion by last April.

However, eight months later, the final sections of the route linking the bypass to Ennis were opened in a low-key manner yesterday afternoon.

Fine Gael TD Joe Carey welcomed the opening yesterday, stating that the works on the scheme had suffered a lot of setbacks, while Fianna Fáil TD Timmy Dooley said that the final phase of the bypass will open the scheme to east Clare.

"It has been a while coming, but it is very welcome," Mr Carey said.

With Gama Construction missing the April deadline, Clare County Council has already expressed its unhappiness over the delay and the contract provided for penalties if the project was not completed on time.

However, the council has declined to state the scale of penalties available or if any have been imposed on the company.

The contract for constructing the route was €123 million, while the remaining money in the scheme has been spent, with €22 million spent on land acquisition, which made seven instant millionaires of farmers along the route along with planning, design and archaeological costs.

Work on the route has also preserved the "sceach" or fairy tree at the southern end of the route. Fenced off by Clare County Council, it was deliberately avoided after folklorist Eddie Lenihan made grim warnings for road users if the tree was destroyed.

The works also include the construction of a bat-house - visible from the road - which cost in excess of €200,000 to protect the EU-protected, Lesser Horseshoe Bat along the route.