No funding allocated to Northern Ring Road this year, minister confirms

Transport Minister Eamon Ryan has confirmed in the Dáil that the Northern Ring Road planned to ease the traffic burden on the northside of Cork City was not allocated any funding this year, but remained part of the National Development Plan.

The minister was speaking in response to a query from Cork North Central Sinn Féin TD Thomas Gould who raised the question following the recent revelation in The Echo that the Northern Ring Road — now known as the Cork City Northern Transport Project — had not been included in an interactive map of Project 2040 released in April.

In his response Mr Ryan said the greater part of the funding — approximately €5.1bn for roads projects — would become available in the “second half of the decade”.

Constraint

“This means that there was a constraint on the funding available for new projects this year,” said Mr Ryan.

“As a result of this, a prioritisation exercise was necessary. As with all national roads projects in the NDP, the delivery programme for the Cork City Northern Transport Project will be kept under review for 2025 and in future years.”

Mr Gould described the minister’s response as ”extremely frustrating” and “yet another missed opportunity” that compounded the “neglect of Cork’s northside”.

“We have articulated lorries driving through small residential estates causing traffic chaos and emitting fumes into people’s homes."

Cork City northeast ward Green Party councillor Oliver Moran said there were two ‘Northern Ring Road’ projects — and three if the current road was included — and that the one, in his view, people were more interested in was the Northern Distributor Road.

“It’s intended for traffic travelling around the city go somewhere else in the city,” he said, giving as an example someone from Glanmire travelling to work in Ballincollig.

He said that he had raised this issue at a recent meeting of Cork City Council and the chief executive of the authority, Anne Doherty, had confirmed that the preferred route for the Northern Distributor Road would be published later this year.