Just 17 of 420 potholes fixed since freeze

JUST 17 dangerous potholes out of 420 reported to a new online road damage watchdog have been repaired since January’s winter freeze.

Independent website www.potholes.ie has claimed that despite the weather improving drastically in recent days, Ireland’s rural roads are still badly damaged as a result of the winter freeze.

According to the website, which was set up by www.ripoff.ie founder David Wall, a total of 420 major potholes have been reported by online users in the past three months.

However, despite local authorities being immediately informed by the website whenever a road damage complaint is made, less than 4% of the treacherous thoroughfares have been fixed by councils struggling with budget constraints.

According to the website, a total of 67 pothole complaints have been made by drivers in Cork, followed by Tipperary (64), Meath (58), Dublin (57) and Kildare (34).

10 or more concerns have also been raised over road conditions in Donegal (25), Mayo (17), Wicklow (13), Limerick (12) and Wexford (10).

However, despite the need for repair works, the independent online watchdog has claimed that the vast majority have yet to be fixed.

Of the 17 major repairs confirmed by www.potholes.ie, 10 refer to Meath, two each to Waterford and Wexford, and one each to Clare, Donegal and Dublin.

Similarly, a survey by AA Ireland has also found that the vast majority of motorists are still risking driving along treacherous roads on a daily basis.

According to the 3,000-strong survey, taken between February 26 and March 2, more than 85% of all respondents have hit a pothole in the past month.

Munster was the region where difficulties were most likely to occur, with 91% of respondents saying they had hit potholes recently.

“On secondary roads especially, there can be danger around every bend,” a spokesperson said.

News of the ongoing potholes crisis emerged after two Irish companies claimed local authorities could make “substantial” savings in their road repair budgets by using “mobile pothole repair” vehicles.

Speaking to representatives from 18 local authorities in Athlone, Westmeath, yesterday, representatives from Archways products, Tiphaul RSR and Irish Tar said road damage could be quickly repaired by using their equipment.