Beware the long road ahead

IT’S a reflection of how low agricultural income is that annual payments for land acquisition by the National Roads Authority (NRA) are equivalent to 15% of farmers’ earnings in Ireland.

It’s also a warning to farmers that the biggest event in their lives could be the routing of a highway through their area.

The NRA, in conjunction with local authorities, is undertaking the most extensive roads programme in the history of the State. On January 1, 458km of new roads were under construction, and the Authority expects to start work on a further 169km this year.