FG councillor accuses Minister of turning his back on stalled N25 project 

A FINE Gael councillor has accused Minister for Transport Eamon Ryan of turning his back on a key infrastructure project in East Cork as the N25 upgrade remains on hold.

Cllr Anthony Barry’s concerns follow the passing of a blueprint by county councillors this week. The approval was for approximately 70 hectares of land for development of 2,500 houses at Water Rock.

Cllr Barry said that going ahead with the development without adequate infrastructure would be like sitting down to a jigsaw that has half of its pieces missing.

The site in Water Rock is being earmarked for development as part of the Carrigtwohill Initiative Urban Expansion Area Plan. It will also include the construction of cycleways coupled with walkways. The development will be situated north of the railway line and a couple of kilometres west of Midleton.

“It’s like coming to end of a jigsaw only to find there are all these pieces missing”, Cllr Barry said. “We were guaranteed by Minister Eamonn Ryan that the N25 upgrade was going to go ahead and it was purely to help in the delivery of this housing in Water Rock. 

"Connectivity was promised by Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII) prior to the deferral of this upgrade. 

"If this is to be developed there has to be an interchange built. 

“It just can’t happen without it," stated Cllr Barry. "This was an agreement that the minister decided to turn his back on.
"We just hope that common sense will take hold and the upgrade will happen. This cannot be done in isolation even with the best will in the world."

Cllr Barry said the long-term impacts may be detrimental if the issue is not handled correctly.

“The minister needs to be realistic. If you want to get to Youghal on a Sunday you can’t exactly use the greenway for that whole distance. There is this ridiculous view that the train is the panacea to cure all illnesses. The train is being used and it is a great service but it is not going to make up the difference.

"You can’t expect to double the population of an area and maintain the same road infrastructure that existed when it was only carrying 20% of the load. 

"We need that road to be brought up to that standard. This is just taking the physical infrastructure into account. The social infrastructure is also important. You look at a town like Carrigtwohill that is among the most populated areas in Cork but still has no youth centre, library, pool or cultural centre. If the social infrastructure isn’t taken into account you are looking at a potential for social unrest. This is a mistake we are seeing time and time again in other areas."