Communities may block main Cork-Limerick road in protest at state of roads

Councillors criticise roads authority for lack of action on dangerous junctions and badly pot-holed roads

Councillors told locals were furious with TII inaction and 'it’s only a matter of time when they will take action themselves' and block the N20. Picture: Denis Minihane

A number of communities along the main Cork-Limerick road are “seriously considering” blocking the N20 in protest at Transport Infrastructure Ireland's (TII) refusals to do anything about several dangerous junctions.

A senior county council official said the roads authority was notified as far back as October 29 that the local authority had serious safety concerns at several junctions from Rathduff, on Cork City’s northern side, up to Charleville on the Cork-Limerick border.

Meanwhile, the road surface continues to deteriorate. Councillors have expressed anger after TII initially agreed to meet them on the issues but later withdrew the invitation.

A meeting of the council’s Northern Division heard division manager and director of roads Padraig Barrett confirm TII has been aware of the serious “deficiencies” for months, and said he would again urge officials to act on them.

Fine Gael councillor Liam Madden said several communities along the route were now “seriously considering” protests that would block traffic, warning they are running out of patience with TII’s delays in upgrading junctions.

He said people living in Ballybeg, Ballyhea, Moureabbey, and Rathduff were furious with TII inaction and “it’s only a matter of time when they will take action themselves” and block the N20.

Mr Madden said he had been raising concerns about junction safety for the past five years, yet TII had taken no action. He warned serious incidents were happening on the road on a daily basis and it was only a matter of time before one of them proves fatal.

Fine Gael councillor Tony O’Shea claimed TII had abandoned all the main roads in North Cork, not just the potholed N20 but the similar substandard N72/N73 national secondary routes which run through the area, connecting Fermoy and Mitchelstown with Mallow and onto Kerry.

Fianna Fáil councillor Pat Hayes said the N20 was one of most heavily used roads in the county and the situation was simply not acceptable. 

“I drove recently from Mallow and I was veering left and right all the way to Cork to avoid the potholes," he said. 

"The surface is genuinely unsafe at the moment. The junctions are a constant risk to local communities. People’s lives are at risk here and I don’t say that lightly. Constituents commuting to Cork are complaining about it on a daily basis."

Aontú councillor Peter O’Donoghue said parts of the N72 from the Waterford boundary to Fermoy were also “an absolute disgrace".

What's your view on this issue?

You can tell us here

He said TII allocated just €2.6m for repairs when the council said it needed €10m to get the job done properly.

“There are local roads in better condition than national secondary roads,” he said.

Mr Madden added: “Do we have to stop the traffic to get something done? I’m very, very angry. I will be telling communities absolutely nothing is being done [by TII] and they’re not going to stand for it much longer."