Former minister casts doubts over timeline for €450million Limerick road project
FORMER Minister for Transport Shane Ross believes that there’s only a “50/50” chance the Adare bypass will be ready in time for the Ryder Cup.
Adare Manor will host the top golf tournament in 2027, and many have cited the need for the Limerick to Foynes road’s completion to avoid the tailbacks which are a common sight on the approaches to Adare village.
Meanwhile, Mr Ross – who was in Limerick to promote his biography of Sinn Fein president Mary Lou McDonald – has predicted the party will win a second seat in Limerick City, adding there’s a “strong possibility” they will also make a breakthrough in the rural Limerick constituency at the next election.
The €450m Limerick to Foynes road secured permission from An Bord Pleanala earlier this year, and there are high hopes it will be complete in time for the tournament which will bring people in from across the globe.
But Mr Ross, who announced the funding during his tenure in the Department of Transport between 2016 and the loss of his Dublin seat in 2020, said he believes there is only a 50% chance of its completion in five years when pushed.
“It’s very important it’s done in that period of time. I understand the immense importance of it. It [the road plan] was introduced with the Ryder Cup in mind, and I hope it’s built. But I think it’s 50/50. It’s certainly a huge motivation and benefit, it was considered an incentive in getting the bypasses out. It would be a pity to have one without the other, a real pity,” said Mr Ross, who was an Independent TD.
Asked if he feels the lack of such a link would devalue the multi-million euro tournament, he added: “I think it would be a better tournament if the bypass goes through.”
While Mr Ross lost his seat at the 2020 election, Limerick Sinn Fein TD Maurice Quinlivan topped the poll in the city with a surplus of almost 2,000 votes.
Asked about a second seat for the party in the four-seater Limerick City constituency, he said: “It’s almost inevitable.”
He said party president Ms McDonald has “acknowledged it herself” that Sinn Fein got it wrong at the 2020 election in not running enough candidates.
“Limerick City would be one of the ones where they’d expect to get second seats,” he said.
One of the few constituencies to not return a Sinn Fein TD two-and-a-half years ago was rural Limerick.
Even there, Sinn Fein’s candidate Seighin Ó Ceallaigh was locked in a battle for the last seat with eventual victor Richard O’Donoghue, Independent.
However, Mr Ross says there’s a “strong possibility” the party will go one better next time out and win a seat in the former Limerick West constituency for the first time.
“When the seats start falling, they fall. History doesn’t really matter. They will win a seat in virtually every constituency. If their vote is on 37% [as it shows in opinion polls] they will. It may seem impossible to imagine now, but they will take these seats,” said Mr Ross.
Mary-Lou McDonald: A Republican Riddle is out now.