The Sunday Times |
Farmers row delays Irish road plan |
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October 7 2001 IRELAND MORE THAN £1 billion of new road developments in Ireland will be delayed by up to nine months because of a row with farmers over compensation, writes Brian Dowling. A National Roads Authority spokesman said there were now "grave doubts" about whether mandatory environmental impact assessments would be ready before spring. The farmers are in dispute with the government over the value of land due to be bought before the projects can proceed. Even if a deal is reached soon, it will be too late to start the environmental tests because flora and fauna will not be in evidence. A spokesman for the Irish Farmers' Association said protests by his members would not delay the construction of a nationwide road network. "It is alarmist to claim this will cause delays of months," he said. The roads likely to be affected include three national routes - Dublin/Cork, Dublin/Galway and Dublin/Limerick. About 8,000 farmers will have to sell land to complete the road building plan, which will cost more than £6 billion. Negotiations have proved fruitless and the roads authority said it was considering court action to enforce access to the land. |