On the road to nowhere

THE decision to “park” the N2/A5 road project proves “partitionism” and “I’m all right Jack” ignorance still thrives in Ireland. In this one move we have stepped back 20 years — which is stunning “progress” at any level of measurement.

For those unfamiliar with the north-west, they should ask themselves why are they unfamiliar? Could it be because they never got there? Without a decent road, a direct train and the removal of the Dublin to Derry train, does the (up to five-hour) drive for the 170 miles leave us competitive with the rest of the island? It is not good enough to nod in a sage-like manner and say “we live in difficult times”.

We in the north-west have lived through those “difficult times” for a considerably longer period due to our geographical location “north of a conflict zone”. There is no part of the island which needed this support more over the past 20 years and we remain abandoned.