Appeal Court quashes ruling that A5 project cannot proceed

A5 campaigners outside Laganside Courts in Belfast, where the Court of Appeal is to rule on the Stormont legal challenge to blocking of the A5 road upgrade. Picture: Liam McBurney/PA Wire

A ruling that the delayed €2 billion (£1.7 billion) A5 road upgrade cannot proceed in its current form has been quashed in the Court of Appeal in Belfast.

The 93.2km proposed scheme, which runs from the Co Monaghan border at Aughnacloy to Co Derry, is Northern Ireland’s largest ever road project and was given the green light by Stormont ministers in 2024.

However, last year the High Court found the Department for Infrastructure’s plans for the road did not comply with climate change targets, following a legal challenge from a group including residents, farmers and landowners.

Infrastructure Minister Liz Kimmins then appealed against that ruling, stating she was determined to see the ambitious project completed.

In the Appeal Court on Tuesday, Chief Justice Siobhan Keegan delivered judgment.

She said: “We allow the appeal and we set aside the order of the High Court quashing the decision to proceed with the A5 first phase on all grounds.

“We consider that the judge was wrong in his approach and the outcomes he reached in relation to the issues.” 

There have been more than 50 deaths on the A5 since 2006. A scheme to turn the road into a dual carriageway was first approved by the Executive in 2007, but it has been held up by legal challenges and uncertainty over funding ever since.