Brennan officially opens €249m Drogheda by-pass

Transport Minister Seamus Brennan has officially opened a new 21.5km stretch of the M1 motorway from Gormanstown in north Co Dublin to Monasterboice in Co Louth.

The €249m project incorporates the Drogheda by-pass and includes a 350m suspension bridge over the River Boyne.

It also forms part of a route which will eventually stretch unbroken from Larne in Co Antrim to Rosslare in Co Wexford.

The National Roads Authority has claimed that the new bypass, which will be tolled, will divert 15,000 vehicles from the existing Dublin-Belfast road every day.

Opening the road today, Mr Brennan said it would benefit industrial development, ease congestion and improve traffic flow.