TUV's Repeated Warnings on A5 Proved Correct
16 November 2011
Statement by TUV leader Jim Allister:
“News that the Irish Government has withdrawn funding for the A5 project vindicates the stand which I and my party have taken on the issue from very early on in the process.
“On 25th November last year I stated: “With the Republic now in financial meltdown the prospect of it defaulting on its financial commitment to the A5 is greater than ever. The Dublin government can't afford this road and we certainly can't afford to build it for them.”
“On 13th January this year I said: “The folly of the approach is compounded by the fact that he is relying on £274 coming from the Dublin Government when there will be a change of regime in Dublin and one of the most likely participants in the next government there, the Labour Party, has already indicated its opposition to making this payment. So the prospects of this £274 ever arriving is remote, and then Murphy will have to strip out further vital expenditure on water and roads maintenance to complete his A5 political project. This is utter madness.”
“On 14th FebruaryI warned that it was “a project for which there is no guarantee of funding” and TUV again raised the issue in its response to the Budget back in February of this year when we stated:
“It is a project for which there is no guarantee of funding. A promised contribution from the Dublin Government was trumpeted, but now that government is on its way out and the Irish Labour Party, a likely component of the next government, has seriously questioned the project. Yet, in year 4 of his DRD Budget, Murphy is relying on hundreds of millions from the bankrupt Republic which is highly unlikely to ever materialise, leaving Northern Ireland taxpayers to pick up the bill once the project is started” (Bold in original).
“I am not opposed at all to necessary improvements to the A5, and recognise parts of the route require considerable upgrade, but I have always been of the opinion that a sustainable case has not been made out for the 'motorway-style' proposal along the full route.
“A political decision was taken at North-South Ministerial level to prioritise the A5. The consequence is that virtually all other roads projects have been stalled, despite the fact that objectively the need elsewhere is greater. For example, both the A2 to Carrickfergus and the A26, north of Glarryford, carry heavier loads of traffic than the A5, but the projects planned for them have been parked so that virtually all capital spend on roads can be directed to the A5.
“I am today calling on Roads Minister Danny Kennedy to scale back the A5 project immediately and put the money which that frees up in to other deserving projects, like the A2, the A 26 and the overpass at the end of the Westlink to connect to the M2.
“The money spread over several projects will create as many, and perhaps more, jobs in the hard-pressed construction sector than devoting it all to the A5. Moreover, the overall economic and infrastructural benefit for Northern Ireland will be greater.”
