Firm building the National Children's Hospital to sign €456m contract for Cork motorway this week
BAM CIVIL, THE construction firm that is currently building the National Children's Hospital in Dublin, will secure a €456m contract to build the Cork's newest motorway this week.
The contract for the new M28 Cork to Ringaskiddy motorway is expected to be signed on Thursday at 12.30pm in Cork.
Taoiseach Micheál Martin, transport minister Darragh O'Brien and minister of state Jerry Buttimer will be in attendance. Construction work will begin shortly after on the new motorway.
The project will see BAM construct the main 10-kilometre section of the motorway from the Bloomfield Interchange on the N40 South Ring Road to Barnahely, close to the Port of Cork.
The project will replace the existing N28, which the government says is not capable of accommodating increasing traffic volumes in the region.
The proposed M28 route from Cork City to Ringaskiddy.
BAM Civil is currently constructing the National Children's Hospital in Dublin, a project that has faced significant political controversy due to escalating costs.
The board overseeing the hospital's development accused BAM last year of having a 'complete disregard for sick children', while the relationship between the construction firm and the state is understood to have soured over the years due to delays.
The company is also involved in the Cork Event Centre project, which, despite a groundbreaking ceremony in 2016 and €57 million in state aid, has yet to commence, with costs continuing to rise.
The construction firm has also built the N25 New ross Bypass, which includes the award-winning Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Bridge, and has built sections of the N11 and M11. In Dublin, the firm is currently building the Ongar to Barnhill road.
'Very anxious'
A spokesperson for Jerry Buttimer, Cork TD and Minister of State at the Department of Transport, said, he is 'glad to see' that the government have now committed over €456m to the project.
'He has every faith that it will be delivered on time and in budget,' Buttimer's spokesperson added.
'We know all eyes are on BAM now to deliver the main body of the project efficiently. It is important for their reputation that they do.'
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Cork South-Central TD Séamus McGrath similarly voiced support, telling
The Journal
that 'this long awaited project is finally going to get underway'.
'Bam will be the contractor, and I hope the project will proceed without any major issues,' McGrath added.
The new project will upgrade the existing connection between the port of Cork and Cork city.
Alamy Stock Photo
Alamy Stock Photo
Fellow Cork native and Sinn Féin TD Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire said that people in Cork are 'very anxious' about the potential for cost overruns, and for significant delays in the delivery of the new motorway.
'It's difficult for me or for anyone for that matter to be sure it will be delivered on time and, particularly given this governments track record on various projects, on budget,' Ó Laoghaire said.
He added that the M28 is a 'vitally important' piece of infrastructure, and said that Sinn Féin 'want to see it delivered'.
'Government and Transport Infrastructure Ireland need to outline what steps have been taken to ensure the tax payer is getting value for money, and that there will not be cost overruns,' he added.
Pádraig Rice, Social Democrats TD for the area, told
The Journal
that progress on the motorway was welcome, but also added some doubt that it would be delivered on time and under-budget.
'Given the State's experience with the troubled development of the National Children's Hospital, I genuinely hope this project is not similarly beset with endless delays, and enormous cost overruns,' Rice said.
Plans for the new motorway have faced stern opposition since they were first tabled in 2018.
The M28 Steering Group – local residents who initiated High Court proceedings against the planning authority – claimed that the project violated Irish and European law.
They focused particularly on the ecological importance of the flora and fauna along the route which would be destroyed to make way for the new road.
In 2021, the group was informed by the High Court that their case would not be advanced to the Supreme Court, and that no appeal of the decision would be possible.
Bam Civil declined to comment on the new motorway contract.
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