The fifth phase of an eight-part project to build an 18km road around Galway city finished this week.
Withdrawal, on Monday, of an application for judicial review of the N6 Galway City Ring Road’s planning permission officially ends the controversial route’s statutory phase, with procurement and final, detailed design due next.
Tendering for a main contractor is expected in the third quarter of 2027, with shovels in the ground by April, 2028. The first leg of the modern N6 road, from Kinnegad to Galway, was finished in 2009.
Preliminary works may begin as early as next year, for an overall road project expected to cost €2.1 billion – a whopping 250 per cent increase on the €600 million business case figure first submitted with the current design’s planning submission in 2018.
Speaking off the record, a number of public officials and private consultants confirmed a €2 billion ballpark estimate. This is based on extreme construction price inflation in Ireland, including contributory factors like the 2020 Covid-19 pandemic, 2021 Suez Canal obstruction, 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, wage inflation, soaring energy costs and the 2026 Israeli-US attack on Iran.
Around €1 billion has so far been publicly earmarked by Government for the ring road, and in July this year, it was listed as a priority project under the 2026 Critical Infrastructure Act designed to accelerate decision-making by public bodies.
Exactly 12 months ago, Galway was allocated €3 billion for transport projects in the 2026-2035 National Development Plan. This is split equally to fund the ring road, BusConnects and a rail corridor from Athenry to Claremorris. At the time, Minister of State Noel Grealish speculated the ring road could chew up to €1.5 billion, raising the spectre of shortfalls for other transport plans if the N6 is politically prioritised.
Minister for Education, Hildegarde Naughton said “significant funding” for the ring road was already included in this year’s budget, passed last month.
“Obviously, given the significant funding required, final Cabinet sign-off will be required prior to any contract being awarded and construction commencing,” she said. “The people of Galway have waited too long for this day, and I will ensure that Cabinet permission is forthcoming.”
The national allocation for roads for the next decade is €9.7 billion.
Project phasing
The withdrawal of a judicial review application by a transport activist on Monday, and the voluntary striking out of three court applications from homeowners living in the path of the new road, last month, means the pivotal ‘Phase 4 – Statutory Processes’ period is over.
The ring road’s legal process phase included planning applications, oral hearings, hefty further information requests, interventions by the High Court, planning grants, schedules of environmental commitments, risk assessments, documentation reviews, project execution planning, mediation and determinations from a plethora of public bodies.
Phase 4 followed the Phase 0 assessment, Phase 1 feasibility, Phase 2 options selection and Phase 3 design and environmental evaluation stages.
The next, Phase 5 chapter of the 27-year ring road saga is titled ‘Enabling and Procurement’. This will warrant appointment of new consultants (likely to be Arup, which has already been consulting on the ring road for 13 years ) to oversee the tender documentation to hire a builder to construct the 18km road.
This enabling phase also includes appointment of technical advisors, archaeological services, another round of cost and risk assessments, and formal commencement orders from the county manager.
Originally estimated to take 18 months, a recently beefed up road project office expects fewer than 12 months for this enabling period, as during the prolonged statutory phase, staff drafted documentation including manuals, forms and other collateral required by a winning contractor.
“The withdrawal of the judicial review now means that that there is now no legal impediment to Galway County Council progressing the development of the road in accordance with the decision on An Coimisiun Pleanála,” says Galway West TD, John Connolly, who attended the High Court this week.
“From this point, the County Council [can] continue with procuring the team for the detailed design of the project, and development of tendering documents,” he said, adding that the Government is “fully committed to funding the project.”
Demolition or acquisition
The ring road’s project lead is Galway County Council, supported by Galway City Council and Transport Infrastructure Ireland.
In a joint statement, the two local authorities and TII said they “remained committed to delivering the ring road alongside improvements to public transport, walking and cycling infrastructure, in line with the Galway Transport Strategy” as the project now moves toward construction. “Council staff and the project team will continue to engage with homeowners along the proposed route, providing information and support as discussions continue on the acquisition of their homes.”
Noel Grealish TD said he raised the issue of 44 homes set to be demolished, and 10 homes to be acquired, for the route of the ring road, with the Taoiseach and Tanaiste at Cabinet, on Tuesday.
“Naturally, many [homeowners] want to stay in the areas where they have spent all their lives, and they have to be facilitated to do this: helped to find new homes, or to secure sites and get through the planning processes,” he said.
Minister of State for Roads, Sean Canney, said that with construction due to commence in 2028, affected homeowners must be prioritised.
“These people have been living with uncertainty for far too long. There must be meaningful, one-to-one engagement with every affected homeowner and landowner.”
The Galway ring road will involve a new bridge at Menlo, allowing drivers travel between Coolagh and Furbo, without entering the city centre.
Advocates contend this will divert traffic away from the city, thereby easing congestion, and freeing up road space for public transport.
The Department of Transport, however, which is funding the ring road to the tune of €1 billion, concluded in its analysis published last year that additional road infrastructure may alleviate congestion for a maximum of ten years only.
Its ‘The Economic Cost of Congestion in Regional Cities 2022-2040’ report calculates that even with a ring road, Galway city will face increased daytime congestion, with morning rush-hour car journeys actually increasing, and the number of pinch-point road junctions running at full capacity soaring from 27 to 39: a 44 per cent jump by 2040.
The current road design has been in the public domain for eight years. A similar proposal for an outer bypass was granted planning permission 15 years ago, but the European Court of Justice ruled it would severely impact natural habitats.
