THE Taoiseach is to “engage” with the Minister for Transport, Eamon Ryan, over why he has not released funding to progress a €58million road, which community leaders in Moyross, Limerick, say will attract investment and jobs to the deprived community.
According to the latest census (2016), Moyross was one of the worst unemployment blackspots nationally. It continues to bear the scares of historic poor planning, as well as the fallout from a deadly drugs feud in the early 2000s between rival gangs.
Community leaders say the Coonagh Knockalisheen Road will open up the cul de sac and attract investment as well as directly linking the area with Limerick city and the wider Shannon region.
The Fitzgerald Report, published 14 years ago, which highlighted social exclusion, serious crime and disorder issues in Moyross, specifically identified that “the planned link road from Coonagh Roundabout to the Moyross Interchange should be ‘frontloaded’ and progressed as a matter of urgency, to open up potential for mixed-use development in lands in, and adjacent to, Moyross and attract investment, allow for improved transport links, and facilitate greater linkage between the local community and other parts of the city.”
The report states this has “been agreed with the relevant local authorities, and funds to do so have already been allocated”.
Nineteen million euro has been spent on preparing the route, however Limerick city and county council said it has been waiting since October 9th last year, for Minister Ryan to release another tranche of funding to progress the Moyross section.
Mayor of the city and county, Cllr Michael Collins has called on Minister Ryan to provide “urgent clarification” on the future delivery of the route, adding “this is a project which represents everything that Regeneration is designed to do and on track to deliver for the Moyross area, from facilitating inward investment to leading to a more sustainable social environment for the northside of the city”.
Minister Ryan informed the community last week that he had cross party support for considering a plan to develop rail links in the area, however local TDs, including Kieran O’Donnell, Willie O’Dea and Maurice Quinlivan, have called on the minister to prioritise funding to progress the road before any consideration is given to rail.
A spokesperson for the Minister said he was “carefully considering” the project, but in the context that “roads cannot be considered in isolation but should be part of overall planning and transport strategy”.
“Limerick and Moyross deserve high quality connectivity, not just a dual carriageway that facilitates urban sprawl,” they added.
“The Minister has already funded Irish Rail in the recent Budget to develop a suburban rail strategy for Limerick. Moyross is located on the Limerick to Ennis line, and is very likely to be a key node in the suburban rail network, and a station in Moyross would become a vibrant hub for the area and facilitate social and economic development.”
Moyross leaders said they believe any plan to develop existing local rail links would only further delay the progress of the link road and jeopardise jobs.
Moyross Parish Priest, Fr Pat Hogan, said he had lost confidence in Minister Ryan and called on him to “resign”.
“He has interfered in the process of Limerick’s Regeneration plans for this road, which were promised 13 years ago. He is effectively throwing out this plan and looking for another plan. He has given two fingers to Moyross, all he has in his head is railways, all he is doing is stepping on the poor of Limerick,” Fr Hogan said.
The Taoiseach, in response to a question from Deputy O’Donnell in the Dail, said: “I understand the concerns in relation to this and it is in the Programme for Government that the review of the National Development Plan will not frustrate existing projects that are underway, and I will certainly bring these views to the Minister, and will engage with him in relation to the matter.”
