Mairead Farrell (Galway West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Ar dtús, cuirim fáilte roimh an ngrúpa feachtasaíochta atá tagtha anseo go Baile Átha Cliath inniu chun an feachtas atá acu a chur faoi bhráid na Dála. Tá sé sin fíorthábhachtach.

I welcome the campaign group and thank its members for bringing their campaign here and allowing us the privilege of hearing them speak. We often have presentations in the audiovisual room but I have never been at a briefing there as touching and moving as the presentation I heard today when the Enough is Enough campaign group spoke. A number of things stood out to me. One was the impact that the road has had on every part of the community. When the campaign group was formed, those involved went into a meeting and noticed that many of its members were impacted by the road in such a devastating way that each family had their own devastating story to tell and share. That spurred them on in this campaign.

My colleagues spoke earlier about the very moving story that Kate Corrigan told today. She described how her life was changed forever as a result of the death of her son on this road. She told us clearly that the work she is doing on this campaign - and I see from the passion of all the people who spoke that this is also true of them - is to ensure that no other family gets that devastating knock on the door and that no other family has to endure the pain from the devastating news she was told on that day.

We know the reality is that far too many families have lost a loved one on the road. We have heard the numbers involved. The reality is that for every single one of those numbers, a family, friend group and community is utterly devastated as a result of that loss. The fact is we have the ability to transform this situation and these communities, to save lives by doing the work on this road. It would be unthinkable not to take the action that is needed.

Earlier today, I had the opportunity to speak to a friend from Tyrone who explained to me the real impact of the road as she grew up. She said that as a child, she was terrified of the road because she was told how dangerous it was. That fear continues to this day. She is now an adult who drives that road and feels real fear when she is on it.

I know the Minister of State understands this and understands its importance. One of the figures we heard earlier stood out to me. Every four days, there is a serious accident on the road. If we get this road delivered, we can change the situation completely. It is clear that the most important thing is that we save lives.

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