High Court urged to fast track appeal hearings on €450m Limerick road

THE HIGH Court has been urged to fast-track any appeals to be heard over a €450m Limerick road.

The judiciary is being asked to intervene on the Limerick to Foynes road project, which will include a bypass of Adare village.

An Bord Pleanala granted approval for the project last summer, which will see a 35km stretch of national road constructed.

However, according to national reports the permission is under challenge from two individuals, with the pair given permission to progress their case by Mr Justice Richard Humphreys this week.

They are seeking to quash the approval from the national planning authority.

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The multi-million euro project is seen as being vital for the Ryder Cup, which is being staged at Adare Manor just four years from now.

But the delay brought about by the likely High Court challenge will throw into doubt whether it will be complete in time for the showpiece event.

It is for this reason, councillor Bridie Collins, who chairs Limerick's economic and planning committee and represents Adare on the local authority is hopeful the case can be "expedited".

"There was an expectation there would be reviews taken against this case. It is a statutory process people are allowed to engage in and unless the law changes, we are not going to be able to change it," she said.

She said it's "ludicrous" some High Court cases can take up to two years to come before a judge.

"That worries me, there are no two ways about it. I respect the fact people have the right to take a review. It's well within the Irish law and needs to be protected. But why should it be taking 18 months to two years to get this? If there is a way to expedite this process, we need to be focused on that. Every single government department able to speed up this process should be doing so, and not delaying this any further," Cllr Collins said.

It's a bigger issue than the Ryder Cup, the councillor stated.

"The Ryder Cup is a month's installation in the life of Adare village. It's a welcomed event, and will bring huge investment and huge numbers of visitors. But it's not a long-term thing. We are dealing every day with a minimum of 17,000 vehicles coming through the village each day. There are delays on both sides. We are dealing with 25,000 vehicles on a bank holiday Friday or a Bank Holiday Monday. We need this bypass for every day living in the village. It's been choked by the traffic. It's hard to plan, tghere are huge safety issues, there are huge climate action issues because of all the traffic coming through the vilage," Cllr Collins added.

She said many local people will only now come into Adare village out of absolute necessity due to the tailbacks at peak times.

"We need these appeals as heard as quickly as possible, so we can crack on with the process," she concluded.