The allocation of €500,000 for the R312 which links Castlebar to Bangor could be up to €49.5 million less than what is needed to do the job properly according to Sinn Féin general election candidate Cllr Rose Conway Walsh. The allocation of the funding was welcomed by An Taoiseach, Enda Kenny who said that, “I am glad to announce that Government has allocated half a million euros to the R312 which has been the subject of concern for some time and which the recent floods again highlighted. The money will be used to realign a dangerous bridge at Glenisland and to rectify the flooding problems at three locations along Beltra Lough which flooded recently.”
However Cllr Conway-Walsh hit out at the amount of funding announced saying that, “While the €500,000 announced by the Taoiseach for the R312 is welcome, it is wholly inadequate and will only serve to address the emergency bridge repairs at Beltra lake. These urgent repairs are necessary to prevent the flooding situation which caused the main Erris to Castlebar Road to be closed for several days during recent flooding reoccurring. The investment needed outside of these emergency repairs is in the region of €30 to €50 million. If the Taoiseach’s announcement is any indication of Fine Gael’s commitment to the R312 then we will have to wait 60 years to have a proper road from Belmullet to Castlebar. We will not be fobbed off by this announcement”
The Taoiseach also added that, “Only with a stable economy and growing employment can Government have the resources to invest in projects like this. Fine Gael has a clear plan to keep the recovery going and bring that recovery behind the home of every door here in Mayo and across Ireland. This announcement is part of a necklace of road improvements across the county which have taken place under this Government.”
