Multi-million euro road and waterworks in Shroove welcomed

The resurfacing of the ‘upper road’ to Shroove marks the culmination of a major programme of multi-million euro public works in the area over recent years.

Five kilometres of roadway, from the crossroads in Greencastle to the turn-off for Inishowen Head, has now been upgraded.

This comes following a €5 million project to pipe drinking water from the East Inishowen plant in Redcastle to the Greencastle area, and after the more recent upgrade of the water pipe network to address frequent outages in Shroove.

Labour County Councillor Martin Farren says it’s great to see such major projects in the area coming to fruition.

“I welcome the fact that the upper road to Shroove has been upgraded. We had a complete overlay of tarmac there, and the contractor, White Mountain, did a magnificent job.”

Cllr Farren said a number of major issues with the water supply in the area have now been addressed.

“The water quality was very poor for many years and people were very concerned about it. That was one of the first things brought to my attention as a Councillor, and I spent a considerable period of time pushing Irish Water to improve things, which they eventually did.”

“The water now comes direct from the treatment plant at Redcastle, and I’d like to thank the Water Section of Donegal County Council, who worked with me to encourage Irish Water to ensure this work was carried out.”

The local Labour politician said a separate issue of frequent bursts should also now be resolved.

“In more recent times, from the crossroads to Shroove, the number of water bursts was unbelievable; there were maybe two per week over the past few years.”

“With the help of the Council Water Section, I approached Uisce Eireann, as they are called now, to lay a complete network of new pipes from the crossroads to Shroove. The last pipes were laid back in the 1950s, and hopefully the new ones will greatly improve things for people.”

Cllr Farren said the resurfacing of the Shroove road, which was deliberately left to last, is now the culmination of the improvement works.

“I insisted that we get the new water pipes put in prior to the road being resurfaced. I didn’t want it to be dug up again. The road was left to settle for a period of six months first and now it’s perfect.”

“That’s three very major projects that have happened, costing a lot of money, and I’m delighted with that,” Cllr Farren added.

Chairman of the Labour Party in County Donegal and Shroove native, Seamus Bovaird, praised his Labour colleague’s efforts to enhance infrastructure in the area.

“Martin has the determination to keep following something up, and he’s gained a reputation as someone who will always try his best if you come to him.”

“These issues have been resolved purely because of his persistence.”

“We do have a year-round population that lives down in Shroove and road improvements are vital for us.”

Mr Bovaird added: “Our water has improved immensely too; there’s now flexibility built into the system, which has been completely modernised.”

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Meanwhile, Cllr Farren has vowed to continue lobbying to have the Shroove road added to the Council’s winter road gritting routes.

“I have tried on numerous occasions already, and I will continue to fight to have it put on the salting programme,” he said.