Among the vital road projects affected is the heavily potholed section of the N72 between Clonbanin Cross, southwest of Kanturk, and Rathmore which is the link from North Cork to Kerry.
€2m in funding had been allocated by TII at the start of the year for the N72 Meenskeha Pavement work and Cork County Council had just appointed a contractor to carry out an upgrade.
Fianna Fáil councillor Bernard Moynihan blasted the decision as a ‘disgrace’ and a cut for the worst road in Duhallow. “TII have pulled the funding. This is unprecedented stuff. It is a €2 million cut for the worst road in Duhallow. It is the worst road in the county and possibly the country. We got a council document which told us at the beginning of the year that €2 million was allocated for this road. This has now been pulled which is a disgrace,” he said.
“This road needs about €15 million,” said Cllr Moynihan.” €2 million will only do a small section. It is going from Clonbanin Cross west to the Kerry bounds. It is a very busy road and the road is in a shocking situation. There is a bed and breakfast down there. The owners tell me that they are constantly taking cars into Philpott’s in Kanturk to get new tyres.
“It is a tourist route and it is affecting business. It is the link from North Cork into Kerry. It is a huge road. It is very disrespectful to the people of Duhallow. It is a good community and it is very wrong. We have to fight to get this money back. It will have a huge impact on the farming community, business community, local residents and the tourist industry,” he added.
Cllr Moynihan said works on the N72 Meenskeha Pavement were scheduled to begin in mid-July until the recent intervention by TII. “I have been campaigning to get funding for an upgrade to this extremely bad road since 2014. I was checking up on it every week. I was told by the council that the work would begin in mid-July. I followed up with Cork County Council and they are saying it is gone. I am extremely disappointed to see the funding of €2 million cut.”
“I have been lobbying like hell in the last week to get this money back,” said Cllr Moynihan. “I have been on the phone constantly in the last week to Niall Healy, Director of Roads with Cork County Council, the CEO of Cork County Council Moira Murrell and the Junior Minister for Transport James Lawless to get this decision reversed.”
Another road project in North Cork that also succumbed to TII’s decision to withdraw grant funding was the retarring of Patrick Street in Fermoy.
€450,000 in funding that had been allocated for this project has also been ‘put on hold’. Cork County Council’s plans to issue a tender for the project have subsequently also been put on hold.
Fine Gael councillor Noel McCarthy said the six councillors in the Fermoy LEA are all ‘united’ and won’t accept this decision. “We were informed from the Director of Roads Niall Healy via email that they have put the money on hold. All the councillors in the Fermoy LEA held a meeting with the Director of Roads on Wednesday, August 7. We are not accepting that decision. The six elected members in the Fermoy LEA are all united.
“We still want works to go ahead as planned. We are waiting for word to come back within the next week to ten days. Hopefully with the co-operation of the Executive of Cork County Council we will get this project back on line,” he added.
“Fermoy has waited far too long for the works to be done,” said Cllr McCarthy. “It is an embarrassment for a main street in our town. It is the N72. It is a national route which runs right through the centre of our town. We are under the responsibility of TII because of that. Fermoy doesn’t deserve to be in this situation. It is not good enough.”
Cllr McCarthy called on TII to ‘rethink’ their decision to withdraw the funding for Patrick Street in Fermoy. “The Executive of Cork County Council are due to meet Minister Ryan and TII to discuss this. We are waiting for a date to meet again to discuss how they got on with their negotiations.
“I think there are a lot of ongoing projects which require extra money and the feeling is that the minister decided to put funding for some projects on hold. I feel sorry for all the projects that have been put on hold. TII must rethink this again, go back to the minister and say Fermoy should not be part of this,” he added.
A spokesperson for Cork County Council told The Corkman: “While Cork County Council manages the planning and implementation of national road projects in County Cork, the funding aspects are managed by TII.”
A spokesperson for TII said they have made a request for ‘additional’ funding from the Department of Transport. “Unfortunately, TII cannot allocate funding to progress projects until funding is available. TII has made a request for additional funding to the Department of Transport.”