Co. Mayor’s message to parties: Hands off the M20
SPECULATION AROUND €900M PROJECT INTENSIFIES AS TALKS APPROACH THEIR CRUNCH POINT
A LONG-TIME advocate for the M20 corridor through North Cork, County Mayor Ian Doyle has issued a warning to parties currently negotiating the terms for a new Government:
“Hands off the M20! The M20 is part of the capital plan – and should remain part of it!”
Speculation about the fate of the €900m project has been mounting ever since the post-February election fog began to lift to show Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and the Green Party as the most likely to form the next Government.
This has intensified because of the COVID-19 crisis as the massive expenditure on pandemic-related measures has increased the possibility of funds earmarked for capital projects being diverted or simply not being available to an administration newly burdened with fresh debt.
As far as Charleville-based councillor Ian Doyle (FF) is concerned, the M20 corridor, which has been identified as the ‘green’ option, must go ahead: “In terms of accessibility for rural towns like Charleville and Mallow, it is the environmentally friendly option,” he said, adding that the entire south-west region, and North Cork and Kerry in particular, were depending on the M20 for its future development.
Mayor Doyle also said that the proposal to add a greenway and cycle path to the proposed motorway was an idea he supported, but that the priority had to be to get the motorway in place.
Due to EU regulations around large infrastructural projects, a study is underway on the comparative benefits and risks between a motorway and improving the rail corridor between Cork and Limerick.
“While commuters would welcome this, it wouldn’t work as a significant proportion of the existing traffic on the route is freight – approximately half of the 50,000 vehicles which travel through Charleville every day is Heavy Good Vehicle traffic – [and] this couldn’t be accommodated on a rail link.”
He also pointed to the possible repercussions of the COVID-19 restrictions, which could take some traffic off the roads as more people opt for remote working options: “Towns like Charleville and Mallow could become digital hubs.”
Party colleague Michael Moynihan TD stands four square behind the proposed M20 project. “The M20 should go ahead – that’s my party’s position and that’s my position,” said the Cork North West TD, who was the Fianna Fáil Chief Whip in the last Dáil.
Fine Gael councillor John Paul O’Shea has proposed that a green way/cycle route should be included in the M20 project to allay Green Party concerns about the impact the project would have on Ireland’s efforts to reduce carbon emissions, as per our commitments under the 2015 Paris Agreement: “The M20 project is the most crucial piece of road infrastructure to be built and, in my view, should proceed.”
A number of questions have been sent to Green Party Transport Spokesman, Grenagh-born Joe O’Brien TD, about the M20 project. He has previously told this newspaper that the current route between Cork and Limerick ‘certainly had a number of issues which needed to be addressed’.
“I am very familiar with it as I grew up beside the N20,” he said. “Current estimates have the proposed motorway coming in at a cost of around €1.2bn.
“This is serious money at the best of times, but now it’s even more important that we ensure we use public money wisely.
“I think we would be wise to examine ways of making the N20 faster and safer while also looking at improving public transport infrastructure within the cities of Cork and Limerick.”