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THE Alternative A5 Alliance (AA5A) has so far raised £3,300 of its £10,000 target to help fund its defence of last year’s High Court decision to quash approval for the new road. The group says it is facing a ‘David and Goliath’ battle.
AA5A members have attended every day of the current High Court hearings, which continued last week.
The group has also successfully challenged the road project several times since the early 2010s.
On the GoFundMe page set up to raise the money ahead of the Court of Appeal hearing last autumn, the group has days left to help raise the money which it says is ‘urgently needed’.
In a statement of case including within their page, the AA5A states that the Department for Infrastructure (DfI) has appealed against Mr Justice McAlinden’s ‘clear and carefully reasoned judgement’.
“This means that our community – who were vindicated in the High Court – must again raise funds to defend the Judge’s ruling and ensure that justice is upheld,” the group states.
“We urgently need to raise funds to cover the legal costs of defending the High Court judgement before the Court of Appeal in Belfast.”
The AA5A is represented in the legal proceedings by barristers Marc Willers KC and Acland Bryant, of Garden Court Chambers, and solicitor Ciaran O’Hare, from McIvor and Farrell Law.
Describing the next stage as ‘crucial’, the AA5A states that if the appeal by the Department is successful, the ‘destructive dual carriageway’ could go ahead ‘without proper consideration of its destructive impact on the environment and the lives of those directly affected by the project’.
The group adds, “If we successfully defend the High Court’s ruling, it will stand as a powerful precedent protecting communities, human rights and the environment across Northern Ireland.”
