The Council for the West has expressed alarm that the west and northwest regions appear to have been ignored in major road-building plans to 2010.
A letter written to every Minister by Council for the West chairman Seán Hannick notes that there is no mention of upgrades for the N5-N26, N4, N2-N14 and N3 routes. "It is incredibly disappointing that every road north of a line between Dublin and Galway has been ignored for motorway/dual carriageway status," Mr Hannick said. "The worst main access road in the country is the N5-N26 links to Mayo. Three projects . . . are ready to go, but are awaiting funding allocation from Government."
Mr Hannick said that even though there was a €3.75 billion underspend in the National Development Plan for the Border, Midland and West region last year, the funds were still not forthcoming. "The Council for the West has long campaigned for balanced regional development. Government has the same aim as stated policy. When is it going to start?"