Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I received a letter from Ms Margaret Egan, the secretary of Ardfinnan Community Council. The bridge over the River Suir at Ardfinnan has operated under a one-way system since October 2015. The Fianna Fáil party leader, then Taoiseach, Deputy Micheál Martin, went to Ardfinnan two years ago in a blaze of glory and promised money, possibly under the active travel scheme or similar. The National Transport Authority, NTA, has now rejected a comprehensive report that was done looking for an independent walk bridge that would be separate from the road bridge. That bridge has now been removed from the NTA's work programme. The people of Ardfinnan are very angry about this. They are entitled to be, as is the wider hinterland. We need this situation solved. This project has been abandoned for eight years by successive Governments, including the previous one that was backed by Fianna Fáil and this one. A promise was made by the Taoiseach, who visited the area glory hunting, but there is nothing to show for it. People need this bridge. It is the safest option for sick children, pedestrians and anybody else who might be walking, fishing or using the bridge for pleasure. It needs to be sorted out.

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