The need to end the gridlock at city’s key road junction has intensified, writes Sean O’Riordan

LOBBYING is to intensify to ensure two major projects, including the proposed €800 million motorway connecting Cork and Limerick, get a kickstart as soon as possible.

PRE-tax profits at one of the west of Ireland’s largest civil engineering firms decreased by 8% in 2009 to €641,782 in spite of an increase in revenues.

THE money spent on renovating a derelict house and the construction of an underground chamber to protect bats at Coole Park along the route of the next phase of the Atlantic Corridor is to come to €90,000.

PLANS to cut the cash support for regional airports have been criticised as failing to recognise the value of air access to isolated areas.

A REAL bit of history, and a link with a famous Archbishop, comes with the farm house and yard, Deer Park House, just on the Limerick side of Charleville.

A NEW highway tunnel under the river Shannon, opened by the Taoiseach Brian Cowen yesterday, is being projected as catalyst for the delivery of major economic, environmental and commercial benefits to the mid-west and the wider Atlantic Corridor stretching from Kerry to Donegal.

THE Limerick Tunnel is a public private partnership enterprise which has a 31-year life span from yesterday’s opening.

TAXPAYERS could save €250 million building a much shorter motorway which would link Limerick and Cork, a Bord Pleanála oral hearing has been told.

OBJECTORS have until close of business on Monday to lodge submissions with An Bord Pleanála in relation to the construction of a €600 million motorway linking Cork and Limerick.

Every sector of society was expecting pain from Budget 2010 and likewise, they all had a wish-list in advance of yesterday’s speech. Claire O’Sullivan travelled to the north Cork town of Mallow last week to talk to retailers and business people about what the town wanted and needed from Brian Lenihan’s budget.

LANDOWNERS are facing significant disruption after the selection of a preferred route for a proposed €1 billion superhighway between Cork and Limerick.

SIX route options for a €1 billion 90km superhighway between Cork and Limerick have been unveiled.

A NATIONAL route linking Cork and Kerry continues to be a key negative factor for tourists travelling to Killarney, it has been claimed.

A SUBSTANTIAL reduction in the number of US flights in and out of Shannon Airport could influence the decision of American companies thinking of locating in Kerry or in the mid-west, IBEC regional director Chris O’ Donovan has warned.

Regional development must be prioritised in the new National Development Plan, according to the chief executive of Ireland's only regional development compan, Shannon Development.

A SDLP delegation will discuss all-Ireland transport issues with Transport Minister Martin Cullen in Dublin today.

Ambitious though the Government’s latest transportation blueprint costing €34.4 billion may seem to be, it is not being merely pedantic to point out that that is just what it is at the moment - a blueprint.

A high speed Atlantic Corridor will link the key cities in the west under the Government’s 10-year transport strategy, it emerged tonight.