Ryan U-turn on road plan greenlights €400m site in Limerick
A MEDICAL campus with “significant funding” of €400m across three sites is planned for Limerick.
The American medical facility will sprawl across Thomondgate, Hyde Road and Coonagh-Moyross in a project that is expected to bring hundreds of jobs to the county.
The news comes after Green Party leader and Transport Minister Eamon Ryan made a U-turn yesterday by giving the go-ahead to the Limerick northern distributor road project, having previously cast doubt on the plan.
He said the final phase of the Coonagh to Knockalisheen road will go ahead with no delays.
The embarrassing climbdown follows a backlash in the Coalition from Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael TDs over the road into Moyross in the north of Limerick city.
The Coonagh to the Knockalisheen road project will be vital for the €400m investment getting the green light, as the road would mean much-improved access to and from the medical campus.
Sources said the facility may still have gone ahead without the road project being built, but the lack of access would have proved a “big hurdle”.
While it is believed it will not operate as a hospital, patients will be able to undergo procedures and have treatments at the campus.
Sources said the project is likely to take five years to be fully operational, with a big announcement set to be made by Limerick City and County Council today.
The project will be funded by a number of stakeholders, including the Government and several investors, with “significant investment” being pumped into the area.
The €400m investment was based on the controversial road project in Moyross going ahead, with the road included as part of the Moyross framework, and was included in the Programme for Government.
Mr Ryan was asked on Limerick’s Live 95fm if his U-turn on the road project was due to a “major announcement” in the coming days.
“Yes, of course, you take that into account,” he said.
“The council will be announcing details of that in the coming days. That’s an investment that in my mind, will be the first of many.”
He said improved public transport, including cycle lanes, a bus corridor and improved pedestrian accessibility, will increase the prospect of getting “really good quality” investment in the area.
Last week, Mr Ryan insisted that he wanted the €45m project delayed to allow for an examination of how public transport could be incorporated.
The project has seen prominent Green Party members leave the party in recent days.
However, yesterday he told the local radio station: “Talking to colleagues in the Dáil and on the council and talking to the city management, also the local community, the road project is going to go ahead.”
Mr Ryan said last week he wanted to see if there were different “types of contract” available for the project, but decided against this to avoid delaying the project.
Last week Fianna Fáil TD Willie O’Dea brought a motion before the parliamentary party meeting regarding the stalling of the road and it is understood he had unanimous support from his colleagues, as well as the Taoiseach. Micheál Martin said he would speak to Mr Ryan in an attempt to resolve the row.
Mr O’Dea yesterday said that it is “good news” that the road project will now go ahead as planned.