Tony McLoughlin (Sligo-North Leitrim, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Chairman for giving me the opportunity to address the meeting. I welcome Mr. Barry and Mr. Nolan. I met Mr. Barry in the past when I spoke to him about an issue relating to the N4, particularly the stretch from Colloney to Castlebaldwin. I acknowledge that the issue was helped along the way and it got to An Bord Pleanála for approval under an environmental impact statement compulsory purchase order. Perhaps Mr. Barry could update us that. When I travel every week from Sligo to Dublin, I can see the motorway, and the stretch from Mullingar to Dublin was mentioned. A new part was recently opened. People in my constituency have serious difficulty commuting from Sligo to Castlebaldwin to Boyle, for example, and there is also the potential to bring entrepreneurs and investors to Sligo. When they see the 27 or 29 white crosses along the route from Castlebaldwin to Colloney, it indicates there is a major issue. They highlight the number of fatalities that have taken place over a number of years. There is a committee working well with Sligo County Council to try to resolve these issues. Mr. Barry has indicated that motorways were completed during the boom years but the poor relation has been the N4 to Sligo.

There is also an issue with the N16. There have been negotiations between the National Roads Authority and Leitrim County Council about phase 2 of the N16 at Cornacloy to Sradrine. The matter was discussed and there is funding for additional works to be carried out. Will the witness provide an update on that? Sligo County Council is required to develop a proposal for a minor on-line realignment scheme and the matter is with the NRA. It is the worst section of the N16, from approximately the townland of Lugnagall to the Sligo-Leitrim county boundary at Gortnagrelly. I am sure the witnesses are familiar with it as I had a meeting with officials from Sligo County Council, who are very concerned because the N16 forms part of the east-west corridor linking Northern Ireland with the Republic of Ireland, or more specifically, linking Sligo and much of Connacht in the west with Belfast, Larne and Dundalk on the east coast. The EU has designated the road as an east-west link forming part of the trans-European road network. A route selection process for the section within County Sligo around Glencar was carried out in the mid 1990s and Sligo County Council is now attempting to develop a proposal involving a minor on-line realignment scheme of 3 km of the worst section of the existing N16. It heads from Lugnagall to the Sligo-Leitrim county border at Gortnagrelly.

I am highlighting these serious issues for cross-Border co-operation. The volume of traffic has increased substantially on this route over a number of years and it is vital that the NRA takes the responsibility to prioritise these roads, and particularly the areas of which I have spoken. These sections have been highlighted by officials with Leitrim and Sligo county councils.