Michael Creed in talks over delayed €160m Ballyvourney to Macroom bypass

The agriculture minister, who has an office on one of the country’s worst bottlenecks, has met with road building chiefs amid fears work on the long-awaited €160m N22 bypass could be delayed by up to five years.

Fine Gael’s Michael Creed, who has an office in the centre of Macroom, Co Cork, said getting work started as soon as possible on the proposed 43km Ballyvourney to Macroom bypass on the main Cork to Kerry road is one of his top priorities but he declined to be drawn on a possible start date.

“I live in the town, my office is on the main street. I know the chaos, the economic cost of the current inadequate road infrastructure,” he said. “Getting this started is top of my agenda. I’m not going to put a timeframe on it but I’m committed to getting it started as quickly as possible.”