Senator urges PM to use ‘special powers’ over A5

WIith the A5 public inquiry due to resume next week, a prominent senator from Donegal has called on the British Prime Minister to invoke his special powers to kickstart the £1.6bn dual carriageway, which has been stalled for over a decade.

Senator Niall Blaney, who comes from a family with a long history in Irish politics, has called for Rishi Sunak to immediately grant the planning permission necessary to start work on what is officially known as the A5 Western Transport Corridor (WTC) project.

Senator Blaney’s appeal comes in the aftermath of the recent crash on Aughnacloy’s Tullyvar Road that claimed the lives of three Tyrone people on Thursday, April 27.

The timing of Senator Blaney’s correspondence is also significant as it comes the week before the A5 public inquiry reopens, the initial hearings of which are to be held in Omagh’s Strule Arts Centre on Monday, May 15.

To prepare for the third iteration of the inquiry (the first two having taken place in 2012 and 2016), the members of Tyrone GAA A5 campaign group, ‘Enough is Enough’, are holding a meeting tomorrow (Tuesday) in the Silverbirch Hotel, Omagh.

In his letter to the PM, Senator Blaney explained how a total of 47 people have lost their lives on the deadly road since plans to upgrade it were first announced in 2007.

Addressing the PM, the Fianna Fail Senator explained how the most recent tragedy was the third time in 16 months that three people had been killed a single accident on the road.

The £1.6bn project, noted Senator Blaney, was the result of peace negotiations between Taoiseach Bertie Ahern and Prime Minister Tony Blair.

Claiming that he has personally been fighting for the upgrade since the year 2000, Senator Blaney told the PM the A5 acted as the main artery from Dublin to Tyrone, Derry and Donegal, servicing in excess of 250,000 people.

The senator called the road “grossly outdated” and pointed out that it is has “many treacherous black spots.”

FAILED

He wrote, “The failed political efforts must be acknowledged.

“Stormont has failed to deliver on this project and the continued stop-start cycle of the Assembly has resulted in this project jumping from one hearing to the next. Here we are 16 years later and still no conclusion to the project.”

Senator Blaney then turned to the shocking mortality rate on the road.

“We cannot afford any more deaths on this route or any more pain and suffering of families and communities,” he said.

Concluding, Senator Blaney said that he is imploring the UK government to act and grant planning permission for the A5 project and to give clearance to commence construction immediately.

After the inquiry resumes in the Strule Arts Centre on Monday, May 15, there will be a week’s pause before the process reconvenes on Tuesday, May 30 in Omagh Enterprise Centre. These sessions in Omagh Enterprise Centre will continue until Friday, June 2.