Eight years ago, dairy farmer Mr Richard Walsh was told by Sligo County Council he would have to give up some of his land because the village of Curry on the N17 was to be bypassed. He is now being told he will have to give up another stretch of land because the village is to be bypassed once again. In road engineers' terminology, the bypass built in 1992 at a cost of at least £5 million is now being called "an inner relief road". Hotel owner Mr Don Dirrane is also opposed to the new plans. He built the Yeats County Inn after the bypass was finished and says he was told the road would not be changed. "I built the hotel on the understanding that it was on the inter-city route from Derry to Galway." The plan to "bypass the bypass" has caused controversy in the area since it was suggested about a year ago and almost everybody local is opposed to it. The issue will be voted on by members of Sligo County Council shortly.
The new road will bypass both Tubbercurry and Curry and go as far as Charlestown on the Sligo/Mayo border. A total of 140 landowners will be affected. There is particular controversy over that part of the road south of Curry to Charlestown which was upgraded to a high standard in 1992. Locals ask why this stretch cannot be incorporated into the new road and accuse the council and National Roads Authority of wasting public money.
Some locals are determined to fight the plan. They are considering contacting the European Commission to alert them to the "waste of EU money".
Farmers, many of whom have smallholdings of less than 40 acres, insist the existing road could be upgraded without cutting through new areas of land. Mr Richard Walsh says he is "devastated" that he will lose about five acres. He was told there would be an underpass but it will only allow cattle, not farm machinery, through. Mr Shane Walsh, who lives with his elderly father, says he doesn't believe it will be worth his while to farm the land once it is split in two.
"When we asked why it was decided to build the new road we were told it was because more money was available under the National Development Plan." The only people who will benefit, he says, are the contractors.
Another farmer, Mr John Gallagher, said any compensation would be inadequate. "You don't replace the land you have lost, you just replace it with money, but you don't replace it with income." Mr Gallagher says he is also unhappy with the consultation process - an open file should be kept in the council offices including all objections and submissions which could then be viewed by the public. He believes elected representatives do not get to see all the objections lodged.
The acting county engineer, Mr Jim Harney, says he is sympathetic to the farmers' plight and accepts many of them have very small farms and can ill-afford to lose land.
Mr Harney says the plan in 1999 was to upgrade the N17 keeping largely to the existing route. "But then the National Development Plan came out and it looked at it in a more global picture - the question of a western corridor came into play." On a cost-benefit analysis, it was not possible to knit the existing Curry bypass into the new road.
"To lead into it and out from it would not achieve the same overall results," he says. The NRA is aiming for an average speed of 50 m.p.h. on the route. "The NRA pay the bills and they dictate policy." On consultation, Mr Harney says once the modified preferred route was published in February, public meetings were held and people had until March 7th to make submissions. These are now being examined and taken into account and the issue will come before the May meeting of the council.
Sinn Fein's Mr Sean MacManus is the only councillor who said publicly he will vote against the "preferred N17 route" and has backed local farmers. He has called on other councillors to make their voting intentions known.