Mayor says lack of funding for Cork county roads is ‘disgraceful’

The Mayor of County Cork has launched a scathing attack on persistent government underfunding for road maintenance in her county, describing it as “disgraceful”.

Independent councillor Mary Linehan-Foley said in her capacity as mayor she travels all over the country and many roads in other counties are in a very good state of repair compared to Co Cork, which has the longest roads network in the country at 12,000kms.

Some roads damaged in the East Cork region by Storm Babet in October 2023 still haven’t reopened while others damaged then are in a rapidly deteriorating state, and haven’t received government funding to repair them.

Deteriorating

Meanwhile, road surfaces in the county are deteriorating faster than expected due to incessant rain since the start of the year.

Ms Linehan-Foley said Co Cork has for years been given some of the lowest per kilometre grants for road maintenance by successive governments and this must stop.

Senior council officials have estimated it would take €800m-€1bn to bring the county’s road network up to an acceptable standard.

“We need our senior TDs in the region to step up and fight for more money,” Ms Linehan-Foley told a meeting of the East Cork Municipal District Council.

She then praised local council engineers and their outdoor workers for doing ‘loaves and fishes’ miracles with the inadequate finance they’re getting.

Storm damage

Fine Gael councillor Michael Hegarty was informed by officials they still haven’t received ‘severe weather funding’ from the government for Storm Babet damage done to some roads in the region.

Officials informed him that they still don’t know if they’ll get government grant-aid for Storm Babet-damaged roads, which were not in initial allocations, and the cash-strapped council can’t do much to repair them.

Council engineers said heavy rainfall this year has impacted their ability to repair roads.

Councillors attending the meeting inundated officials with requests for help with road repairs they’d received from constituents all over the region.

Mr Hegarty was told he could bring in a deputation from the Ladysbridge area to next month’s meeting to outline appalling road conditions in their area.

Ms Linehan-Foley said the road is crumbling at Cork Hill, Youghal, which is a major transport artery in the town. She was informed the council may not have the finance to do this in 2026 and it could be next year before it can addressed.

“We will be lucky if we still have a road there in 2027,” she retorted.