Government to announce funding for cross-border projects
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The Government is to announce hundreds of millions of euro in funding for cross-border projects later on Tuesday.
The Cabinet is meeting in Dublin to give the green light to the plans, which are set to include major infrastructure projects as well as sports and educational initiatives.
The A5 major road scheme and the redevelopment of Casement Park GAA grounds in west Belfast are speculated to be among those to benefit from the cross-border funding.
Other projects are understood to include the Narrow Water Bridge at Carlingford Lough in Co Louth and the funding of an hourly service of the Belfast-Dublin enterprise train.
Taoiseach Leo Varadkar, Tánaiste Micheál Martin and Minister for Transport Eamon Ryan will confirm the funding commitments for the Shared Island investment projects later on Tuesday.
Campaigners have been calling for the upgrade of the A5 for many years due to the high volume of fatal collisions on the road.
The road links the city of Derry with Aughnacloy in Co Tyrone, located close to the Irish border.
A scheme to turn the A5 into a dual carriageway was first approved in 2007 but has been held up by legal proceedings from an opposition group known as the Alternative A5 Alliance (AA5A).
Since 2007, 47 people have died on the single-lane road, including three members of the same family in one collision.
The Government previously committed £75 million for the project but it is understood that Tuesday’s funding will run to hundreds of millions of euros.
Niall McKenna, chairman of the A5 Enough is Enough campaign group, said it will be “good news” if the Irish Government commits to the major funding.
“We were always confident that the Irish Government’s financial commitment would be reinstated. We met them last summer in the Dail and there was cross-party support to promise to reinstate the full amount,” he said.
“As we sit at the moment, the Department of Infrastructure and the minister [John O’Dowd] are reviewing the commissioners’ report from the public inquiry, and they are assessing the details of that, and they will make a decision within the next few months hopefully.
“The lack of the money was certainly something that was used against the scheme going ahead, so it is one more obstacle removed.
“In terms of the cost of the scheme, of course it will be more expensive to deliver the scheme now than when it should have been delivered in 2007, but the cost of not going ahead is more death and more tragedy.
“The work needs to be done. The A5 is a catastrophic road in terms of deaths and injuries.
“The current statistics are that an average of three to four people die every year on this road, but the people who die are not statistics, every one of them leaves behind a traumatised family and friends.”