Green Party say Limerick to Cork motorway won’t go ahead within five years

LIMERICK Green Party TD Brian Leddin has insisted there is "no change" in the status of the M20, saying that it was never due to be built in the next five years.

His comments come after his party colleague Ossian Smyth told a press briefing today that the €1bn project will not go ahead in the next government term.

Mr Smyth has since tweeted to clarify the massive scheme will continue as planned.

"The Department of Transport had not planned to complete it before 2025. There is planning and preparatory work in the coming years," the Dublin TD stated.

Earlier, he added that the party is not in favour of increasing road capacity along the Limerick to Cork corridor at this time - but indicated they would look at improved rail connectivity.

Mr Leddin said: "There is nothing in the programme for government that says there's any delay to it.
It's at the very early stages of planning. It's as simple as that."

He says it's his understanding that the project will not get under way until 2027. However, the application was initially meant to go to An Bord Pleanala by 2023.

And his constituency colleague Fine Gael TD Kieran O'Donnell has long targetted an opening date of 2026 in time for the Ryder Cup in Adare.

"It wasn't even discussed. There's nothing in the programme for government that would change the status of the M20," Mr Leddin said, "My understanding was that it's at such an early stage that it wouldn't be happening in the next five years anyway. Land acquisition has to happen, the planning, this is a real protracted process."

He also claimed prior to the general election, other parties turned the Limerick to Cork motorway into a "political football".

"They gave the impression it was shovel ready when it wasn't the case," he added.

"But I do think there should be a very good road connection between the cities. We should provide whatever infrastructure we can which would provide for the sustainable growth of both Cork and Limerick," Mr Leddin said.

Mr Smyth, a Dublin deputy had said the M20 is not "planned to happen by any government in the course of the next five years."

The comments were criticised by Sinn Fein TD Maurice Quinlivan, who said Fianna Fail and Fine Gael are "selling out Limerick to cling to power", adding the need for the link is "immense".

It also no doubt left many Fianna Fail members in Ireland’s second and third cities questioning whether they will back the programme for government in light of this.

Already one local member stated on Twitter: “You’ve just lost a yes voter”.

At the briefing, he did say that the party is looking towards trying to build a "functional useful" railway line from Shannon-side to Lee-side, and would love to upgrade the existing N20 to make it safer.

"We are not in favour of increasing the capacity, but again: the road is not going to happen in the first five years," he said, "There will be preparatory works, and there is still a study on what's the best thing to do to improve transport between the two cities."

The project – which has been backed by the Limerick Chamber and businesses across the region – was due to go before An Bord Pleanala in 2023, with the road set to involve an upgrade of the existing N20 via Mallow and Charleville.

but: the M20 motorway between Limerick and Cork will not go ahead within the next five years

— Gavan Reilly (@gavreilly) June 18, 2020

Fianna Fail TD Niall Collins earlier said he had "no fear" for capital projects like the M20.

Dublin TD tell #Limerick and #Cork to get stuffed re M20 https://t.co/7gwq0Q6SUP

— Maurice Quinlivan TD (@QuinlivanTD) June 18, 2020

Local activist Kieran Walsh has urged the Green Party to rethink, saying: "It's no good just scrapping something for the sake of it".

"Limerick has been consistently overlooked in terms of capital investment. This motorway was a significant link between two of Ireland's major cities. I'm disappointed if this is true. We need to provide public transport links, but we need to promote an economic counter-balance to Dublin and this is something the M20 would provide," he said, "We need to know what the programme for government provides as an alternative, it's no good just scrapping something for the sake of it."

Reacting to the news, Fine Gael TD Kieran O'Donnell, who has championed the project for a number of years, said as far as he can see, it's still "all systems go" for the M20.

"I'm going on the draft programme for government. The National Development Plan continues as is and the M20 is front and central of this. As far as I am concerned, the assurances are here that the M20 will continue to progress in terms of planning and design, and when we get it through An Bord Pleanala, to be constructed," he said.

"If we are serious about balanced regional development, the M20 is core to that," he added, "I want to see it being built as quickly as possible. When construction commences, it would be dependent on when we can get it to An Bord Pleanala. The programme for government reaffirms the commitment to the M20 continuing on its journey in terms of planning, design and going to An Bord Pleanala to have it built as quickly as possible."

Mr Quinlivan said: "This road in particular has been identified as being crucial to achieving a government target of 300,000 jobs for the southern region. Building this motorway is a win-win situation for the government as the spin-off from regional prosperity will enable a reversal of rural decline, urban regeneration and a more equitable spread of prosperity. The present road from Limerick to Cork can be quite dangerous and has unfortunately seen a number of fatalities and serious accidents."

And Minister of State Patrick O'Donovan has also said work on the motorway is progressing.

In a tweet, he wrote: "€3m was allocated to the project this year by TII. Route options on the existing N20 corridor are being progressed with public consultation to take place end of this year and a final route to be decided mid 2021. Fine Gael are clear that these road projects are going ahead and are progressing through their various stages of design, consult and construct."