Bypass welcomed
Louth County Council had received no official advisory from the Department of Transport in relation to the Ardee bypass, CEO Joan Martin told councillors at their December meeting.
Minister Shane Ross had announced days before the meeting that funding for the €20 million bypass had been approved.
The news had been met with great fanfare, and came after years of campaigning by local councillors.
But the council’s CEO said that nothing official had been received by the local authority at the time of the monthly meeting.
She told councillors that there was a ‘growing tendency’ for announcements to be made by Minsters, TDs or others some time before the relevant local authority were in receipt of official documentation.
‘Louth County Council has still not had anything official about Ardee bypass, only on social media and in newspapers,’ said Ms. Martin.
Ardee Councillor, Dolores Minogue, who had earlier given the news a broad welcome, asked the CEO if this was a matter of concern. But she was advised it was not.
Cllr. Mingoue said that the news about funding having been approved for the development of the new road ‘means so much to our area.’
She acknowledged the work done by staff at Louth County Council which had gone into securing the major project, adding ‘thank you so much to all for the input.’
Work on the new bypass is expected to begin by mid 2018 and take 18 months to complete.