A man whose father was killed in a crash on the A5 in Northern Ireland has warned more people will lose their lives on the road because of a court ruling that has quashed its upgrade.
On Monday Mr Justice McAlinden at the Belfast High Court said he was aware his ruling would bring “fresh anguish” to bereaved families, but the proposed scheme breached elements of the Climate Change Act 2022.
“My appeal is to the minister, infrastructure officials in the department, to get this [upgrade] over the line, get the evidence that the judge has said is required delivered at pace and get moving on this,” Stephen Kelly, whose father, Terry, was killed on the road in 1995, said afterwards.
“Pull everybody together first thing and get working, because in the time it’s going to take between now and whenever this project comes forward again, more people are going to lose their lives, and that is completely unacceptable.”
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Mr Kelly, who is chief executive of Manufacturing NI, also said the A5 was a “critically vital piece of economic infrastructure” for the west, and was needed “from an economic, a political and a familial point of view”.
In a statement following Monday’s ruling, the North’s minister for infrastructure, Liz Kimmins, said it was a “disappointing day” and re-emphasised her commitment to the A5 upgrade. She saidshe would “take time to carefully consider the judgment in full, including any implications for the scheme, and the department’s next steps”.
The upgrade of the A5, which runs from Derry to the Border at Aughnacloy, Co Tyrone and connects the northwest to Dublin, was first announced in 2007 but has been mired in delays and legal challenges. In that time more than 50 people have lost their lives on the road.
The £1.2 billion (€1.4 billion) scheme was approved in October but judicial review proceedings were brought against the Department for Infrastructure by nine applicants including residents, farmers and landowners.
The judge acknowledged it was “likely that delays in the progression of this scheme will coincide with the occurrence of further loss of life and serious injury on the existing road” but he said the decision to proceed “must be taken in accordance with the law”.
Mr Kelly’s father Terry, 45, was on his way home to Derry from his construction job in Omagh when he died in a collision “on that bad corner in Bready”, Co Tyrone.
“My father was just a normal working man in the construction industry, he left to go to work early in the morning of 31st August 1995 and he never returned home.”
His son was 24. “I’ll never forget,” Mr Kelly said. “This young police officer had to come to my family home, where I answered the door.
“He was visibly upset and stressed, and I was taken away in the police car to go down to Altnagelvin [Hospital] and identify his body. That’s an experience that will always live with you.
“That corner has been slightly improved since then but there’s been next to no improvement on that road in the 30 years since he lost his life.”
Niall McKenna, chairman of the A5 Enough is Enough campaign group, also warned it was “inevitable ... that delay will cause deaths”. He said the judge’s decision had caused more “anguish” to bereaved families who could not understand why, “when there’s a scheme there, and the vast majority of people want it, the money’s there to build it, why can it not go ahead?”
“What is wrong with our legal system? What is the dysfunctionality of our system, a lot of our systems, that cannot deliver things that are for huge societal benefit?” he said. Additional reporting – PA.
