The final section of the long-awaited M7 motorway from Dublin to Limerick has opened to motorists.
The road opened to traffic at 12pm but the official ceremony had to be abandoned because of the weather.
The M7 motorway scheme is the last element of the Government’s €18 billion plan to link regional cities to the capital.
The Government had initially planned to have all these major inter-urban motorways completed by 2006. This was amended to 2010 in the National Development Plan 2007-2013.
Up to 13,500 vehicles are expected to use the road per day and it is estimated to knock 10 minutes off journey times.
The opening of the road was originally delayed following the resolution of a dispute which had left 40 workers without pay since November 1st.
The employees of KC Civil Engineering, a subcontractor on the €345 million project, had threatened to dig up parts of the 36km stretch of motorway between Nenagh and Borris-in-Ossory if they were not paid more than €200,000 owed to them.
The company said it had been unable to pay its workers because it had not been paid by the main contractor, Bowen Somague Joint Venture, which was in turn seeking payment of a conciliation award of €26 million from Laois County Council.
The dispute was resolved last week following the intervention of Taoiseach Brian Cowen.