Louth councillor voices disappointment as N2 road scheme put on hold

Cllr Pearse McGeough has told the Dundalk Democrat that the outlook for N2 Ardee to Castleblayney Road Scheme “is not looking positive” and voiced his disappointment that the project in his view “is now in cold storage.”

Cllr McGeough was commenting after the Louth County Council March meeting, after he raised the matter, seeking a comment from the Council on its views on how it might push the project forward.

The Sinn Féin councillor told the March meeting that he had attended a meeting on 27 February in Carrickmacross with other representatives from Louth and County Monaghan as well as officials from Monaghan in relation to the N2 Ardee to Castleblayney Road Scheme.

Cllr McGeough, who is a representative of the Ardee Electoral area told the Dundalk Democra that:

“I attended a meeting on 27th February along with others councillors from Louth and Monaghan and the air of despondency was palpable afterwards.

“After many years of working on this project we were told at the meeting that the funding from TII was coming up short to the tune of €400,000 to keep the scheme alive. The shortfall has arisen because of changes in government policy and design standards so additional funding is needed.”

At the Louth County Council March meeting, Director of Services Catherine Duff, confirmed that the project has been put on hold, adding that the Council has been liaising with Monaghan County Council on how to best progress it.

Cllr McGeough told the Dundalk Democrat: “The N2 is a vital piece of infrastructure that will join Donegal - Derry - Dublin.

“It has been in the offing for decades and it’s time it was completed.

“As traffic increases, this road notoriously has one of the highest accident fatality rates in the State which makes it one the most important pieces of infrastructure in the area to improve safety and also connectivity with Dublin and Derry.”

Cllr McGeough added, “the shortfall has arisen because of changes in government policy and design standards so additional funding is needed”.

He further added, “This is very disappointing and in my opinion this project is now in cold storage and the outlook is not looking positive.