Delight at additional €500,000 funding for North Cork relief road plan

The announcement of an additional €500,000 in funding for the long-awaited Mallow Relief Road has been welcomed.

The additional funding, announced by Transport Infrastructure Ireland, comes following a review of budget allocations.

Local representatives are hopeful the extra funding will allow Cork County Council to advance the design of the project to planning.

Fianna Fáil TD for Cork North Central, Pádraig O’Sullivan, welcomed the funding.

Scaremongering

“There was a lot of scaremongering about this, with a lot of people saying the money would not be made available, but I’m glad that then minister Jack Chambers and the current minister James Lawless have delivered on this funding,” said Mr O’Sullivan.

The chairman of the Mallow Relief Road Alliance, John McDonnell, said the funding meant that momentum on the project had been restored.

“It’s going to be a big boost to Mallow. Everyone agrees it’s badly needed.”

Mallow-based Fianna Fáil councillor Gearóid Murphy said he and council colleagues of all parties had been lobbying intensively for extra funding.

“I am delighted to see this effort bear fruit,” he said.

Labour Party councillor Eoghan Kenny said the project had been a priority for him.

“Along with my colleague, Deputy Seán Sherlock, we have consistently lobbied the Department of Transport and [Transport Infrastructure Ireland] to allocate extra funding,” he said. 

“This is a step towards relieving the traffic congestion crisis on the main street in Mallow.”

Mallow-based Fianna Fáil councillor Pat Hayes said he was delighted the funding had come through, describing the relief road as being of the utmost importance to Mallow and the surrounding areas.