N25 safety issues in County Waterford caused by "inaction" need to be addressed

Sinn Féin’s leader on Waterford City and County Council, Councillor Conor D. McGuinness has hit out at the coalition parties for their failure to address longstanding safety concerns on the N25. 

Such is his concern over the issue that Cllr McGuiness has called on the Department of Transport to "urgently assign funding" for safety upgrades to the national primary route.

“The silence and inaction from the coalition parties in Government when it comes to the N25 is astounding," he said.

"The head-in-the-sand attitude towards the urgent need for safety upgrades can only be described as negligent," he added.

“The N25 is widely acknowledged as the most dangerous national primary route in the state, and one of the most dangerous primary roads in Western Europe."

Cllr McGuiness, who will contest the next General Election for Sinn Féin, said that "while a separate Government mess-up means that RSA data on accidents cannot be used to make the case for safety upgrades, we know anecdotally that there are frequent serious incidents on the N25 as it passes through Waterford".

“Waterford Council supported my motion requesting the Minister for Transport and TII to urgently meet with a cross-party delegation of councillors to discuss this issue," he said.

That was last year, however, he said the local authority is yet to receive an acknowledgement.

“While it is easy to blame Minister Eamon Ryan alone for the current attitude of indifference, the fact is this policy predates the current coalition," he said.

"Successive Governments have failed to take the issue seriously. This may explain why the two larger coalition parties have allowed this negligence to continue."

Cllr McGuinness said it wasn't acceptable that Waterford was "once again, left behind and denied investment", referring to what he described as "basic and necessary road safety improvements".

"Given the failure to date, I believe it will take a change of Government before be see any movement," he said.

"We have the potential for change and for a fairer deal for Waterford.”