Latest news with #A5road
BBC News
11 hours ago
- Business
- BBC News
A5: Irish government funding commitment 'remains in place'
The Dublin government's €600m (£511m) funding commitment for the beleaguered A5 road project remains "steadfast", an Irish cabinet minster has this week, a high court judge ruled the road's upgrade should not go ahead in its current form because it does not comply with Stormont's climate change Irish government funding of €600m for an upgrade of the road was announced in February Wednesday, Irish Minister of State Charlie McConalogue, a Fianna Fáil TD (Irish MP) for County Donegal, said the Dublin government remains "committed to the financial assurances we have given". "To be clear the Irish government's commitment remains steadfast and remains in place," McConalogue told BBC Radio Foyle's North West Today programme."We remain fully committed to the project. It is something we have been very committed to since the outset and at the start of last year we committed €600m to the project and that commitment remains steadfast." More than 50 people have died on the A5 since 2006 and campaigners have called for the road to be road is the Northern Ireland part of the major arterial route that connects the north-west of the island - Donegal and Londonderry - to Dublin, via towns including Strabane, Omagh and dual carriageway scheme was first announced back in 2007, but has been beset by a number of 58-mile (94km) £1.7bn project was given the green light by Stormont ministers in October last year. On Tuesday Northern Ireland's Infrastructure Minister Liz Kimmins said "everything is on the table" in considering how to respond to the high court said she and her officials were "working through the judgement and what that means", describing it as "extremely detailed"."I hope to have a briefing on that later this week, and then we'll be able to identify what the next steps are," she told members of the legislative assembly (MLAs). 'Tremendous blow' McConalogue said his government would now work to be supportive in any way possible to the Northern Ireland administration to seeing the project move the court ruling as "a tremendous blow", he said: "The Irish government is very clear this project is needed."It is essential for the development of the north west, essential for the opening up of the region." What happened in court? The High Court judgement blocking the upgrade of the A5 road - because the plans did not comply with government climate change targets - shows the reach and impact of Stormont's climate change legislation - but the judgement is clear that shortcomings in the project can be remedied.A solicitor for the Alternative A5 Alliance campaign group, which brought the successful case, said his clients' efforts had been "vindicated" and it was an important day for the campaigners from the Enough is Enough group said they were disappointed with the decision but added the judgement provided a "roadmap" for how the upgrade could Tuesday, the organisation Friends of the Earth welcomed the judgement and said "money earmarked for the A5 project should now be redirected to meet other challenges in Northern Ireland's climate change legislation".
BBC News
2 days ago
- Politics
- BBC News
A5: Court decision shows reach of the climate change act 2022
The High Court judgement blocking the upgrade of the A5 road shows the reach and impact of Stormont's climate change has implications not just for the A5 but for other road projects and possibly wider areas of Stormont policy, such as means that when ministers are proposing big construction projects they will need to clearly show how they comply with climate does not mean the A5 upgrade is dead. The judgement is clear that shortcomings in the project can be remedied. However, it may mean the scope of the upgrade has to be revised or that trade-offs will have to be made with other schemes being cancelled or roads expert Wesley Johnston has suggested that it is "likely to take years rather than months" to assemble the technical evidence to support the scheme in anything like its current Assembly passed the Climate Change Act in 2022, legally committing Northern Ireland to achieving net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, with other binding targets along the is an ambitious policy which has major implications stretching into all areas of the economy and Act puts legal duties on Stormont departments to publish targets for cutting greenhouse gas emissions in their area of responsibility and plans for how they will get got off to a slow start as devolved government was effectively suspended between 2022 and 2024 when the DUP walked out in protest at NI's Brexit deal. Central to the implementation of the Act is Section 52 which requires Stormont departments to hit their own targets and cooperate to reach the overall net-zero his judgement Mr Justice McAlinden ruled that the Department for Infrastructure was in breach of Section 52 as it had failed to produce the evidence to show that upgrading the A5 would be consistent with overall climate found the department had instead made "aspirational assumptions".He said: "Section 52 does not prevent a major infrastructure project which is a source of significant greenhouse gas emissions being devised, promoted, constructed and put into operation."But what it does clearly rule out is the construction and operation of such a major project in the absence of robust planning, synchronisation and co-ordination between all NI government departments to ensure that the project fits into the plans, strategies and policies which map out a realistic and achievable pathway to achieving net zero by 2050." In those words the judge throws down two challenges to how the Executive conducts its means that implementing the climate change law is going to require greater coordination between also suggests that ministers will have to be more explicit about the trade-offs which will be necessary to reach the net-zero goal.
BBC News
3 days ago
- Politics
- BBC News
A5: Judge to rule on future of road scheme
A judge is due to deliver a decision on the future of the A5 road scheme later on 58-mile (94km) £1.2bn project was given the green light by Stormont ministers in October last the following month a group of residents and landowners began judicial review proceedings against the dual work had already started on parts of the long-delayed road scheme and in March this year the Infrastructure Minister visited a location where some advance works were underway. More than 50 people have died on the A5 since 2006 and campaigners have called for the road to be scheme was first announced back in 2007, but has been beset by a number of delays.A group of local residents, landowners and farmers mounted a fresh challenge against the decision to begin construction work. Long read: A5 crossroads The umbrella group, known as the Alternative A5 Alliance, contended it would breach legislative targets set out in the Climate Change (Northern Ireland) Act 2022 to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by of the case centred on Planning Appeals Commission recommendations against proceeding with the scheme unless the department was satisfied it would not undermine those goals. What is the A5? The A5 is a vital artery of the Northern Ireland road network. More than 58 miles (94km) long, it has more than 200 side roads connecting to road is single carriageway for most of its length, with overtaking lanes in some links Londonderry with Aughnacloy in County Tyrone and passes through towns like Sion Mills, Omagh and is the main north-south route in the west of Northern Ireland, providing a link between County Donegal and Dublin, via the N2 in County road has remained largely unchanged since the 1960s, with the exception of some town bypasses, but there has been a huge rise in the number of cars, lorries and agricultural vehicles using it since it was first statistics show there has been about a 10% increase in traffic on the road in the last 10 years alone. An increase of about 30% is forecast over the next 25 years. Concerns A plan for a new A5 dual carriageway was first proposed nearly 20 years been at the centre of a raging debate ever since, between those who say a new, modernised road is needed to save lives - and others who worry about the impact on farmland and the 1,200 hectares of land, impacting more than 300 working farms would be required for the construction of the full 85km A5 like the Alternative A5 Alliance (AA5A) have repeatedly raised concerns about losing land that has been in their families for had called for the existing A5 road to be improved and pointed to the environmental impact of constructing such a large-scale project, as well as unresolved issues about building the new road near potential flood police figures have shed light on the cause of crashes on the A5, putting focus on driver error is the most common cause of fatal road traffic accidents on the A5, but it is also the most common cause of fatal accidents on the majority of roads across Northern Ireland. A previous investigation by BBC News NI found that between 2012 and 2024, the A5 had the highest rate of deaths per kilometre of any road in Northern April this year Justice McAlinden heard arguments at the High Court from barristers representing the AA5A as well as from bereaved families and the Department for judge had previously said it was important the case reached a conclusion "as quickly as possible".A decision is expected later on Monday morning.
