NI project funding uncertain

THERE IS growing uncertainty over Government commitments to spend €440 million on road building projects in the North.

Two years ago, the Government announced it would provide £400 million (€440m) for road projects in the North. Funding was earmarked for carriageways on the A5 western corridor between Derry and Aughnacloy, and on the eastern corridor between Belfast and Larne.

The roads are deemed strategically important, providing an extension of the N2 route from Dublin to the Border via Monaghan, and access to the Port of Larne via the M1 and Belfast.

But Minister for Finance Brian Lenihan recently halted road projects in the South, issuing instructions to the National Roads Authority that no capital spending projects were to go ahead without his approval. He also issued instructions to local authorities to halt spending of €500m on roads, subject to approval.

While the projects in Northern Ireland are not scheduled until 2012, there is growing concern that funding may be subject to reassessment.

A Department spokesman confirmed money had “started to flow” to the projects. Asked if the same strictures would be applied as in the South, the spokesman stressed construction funds won’t be required until 2012.

But the Northern Ireland roads agency said it had not been notified that project funding may be subject to any further assessments. The agency said the A8 was strategically important to the economy of the island, and minister for regional development Conor Murphy announced the preferred corridors for it last November.