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Comment on Derry to Aughnacloy dual carriageway scheme

Commenting on today's announcement by Regional Development Minister Conor Murphy of the proposal to dual the Derry to Aughnacloy road, Friends of the Earth climate change campaigner Declan Allison said it was a waste of time and money.

"This dual carriageway scheme is a phenomenally expensive white elephant. If Minister Murphy wants people to travel easily between Derry and Dublin he'd do better by upgrading the railway line and buying some high-speed trains so we could have a decent Derry to Dublin express rail link. The £700 or £800 million this road will cost would go much further if invested in public transport. Dualling the A5 will just generate more traffic and result in ever increasing carbon emissions."

Mr Allison continued:

"The Assembly's Executive should be climate proofing its policies not building enormous carbon producing projects. We're heading towards a low carbon future and it is folly to put our limited funds into new roads. The minister who cuts the ribbon on this staggering waste of time and money will look ridiculous when their contemporaries in the rest of the UK and Europe are opening modern public transport projects; zero-carbon housing schemes; and state-of-the-art renewable energy systems."