'The Cork to Limerick road is something I won’t miss': Munster flanker O’Mahony rows in behind calls for motorway

A Cork TD has echoed the calls of a world renowned rugby player to urgently progress plans for the Cork to Limerick motorway.

Munster rugby player Peter O’Mahony was recently asked by media what the thing he would miss least about the life of a pro rugby player when he retires was.

“Well, the Cork to Limerick road is something I won’t miss, to be honest with you. It’s a torturous bastard of a road,” he said.

“The government should really pull their thumb out and sort that road, I can’t understand it. Too late in my career now for that to be sorted!”

Labour Party TD for Cork North Central, Eoghan Kenny, agreed with Mr O’Mahony, urging minister for transport Darragh O’Brien to progress the project.

“I listened to one of Ireland and Munster’s greatest ever players, Peter O’Mahony who said he won’t miss driving the ‘bastard’ of a road that is the N20, Cork to Limerick Road. To be honest, I don’t blame him. It is absolutely dreadful,” Mr Kenny told The Echo.

“One of the biggest concerns [constituents had] on the doorstep was the fact that in 2025 we don’t have a motorway connecting our second and third largest cities. It is simply unacceptable at this stage.

“Every year we speak about the high volume of road traffic accidents, inadequate upkeep of the road and the measly amount of funding secured to develop the project. If the minister won’t listen to me perhaps he will listen to Peter O’Mahony.

“I’m calling on Minister O’Brien now to make this an absolute priority, he must open his eyes and ears and see outside the pale for just a minute and realise that we are below here in Cork with inadequate infrastructure. Now it’s about action, and the minister has that power. He controls the purse strings.”

Last week, Fine Gael TD for Cork North West, John Paul O’Shea asked the Taoiseach for an update on the M20 Cork to Limerick project in the Dáil.

Taoiseach Micheál Martin said in response: “The Government is very supportive of the motorway. I understand it has gone through the various planning stages.

“There will be a further review of the national development plan and I expect the project will be included in that. As the deputy knows, the project has gone through route selection and so forth. It is something that people eagerly await.”

He added that the Government has seen the “transformative impact” that bypasses have had on towns like Ballyvourney and Macroom.

“The M20 will have a transformative impact in terms of the Limerick-Cork nexus and economic development that could arise from greater and faster connectivity,” he added.