Transport Minister Paschal Donohoe has pledged that the €335m proceeds of the sale of the State’s shareholding in Aer Lingus - should Ryanair play ball and sell its stake too – will be used to establish a new Connectivity Fund to finance investment in the country’s roads, ports, broadband and other infrastructure.
That’s fine and dandy, but I would suggest that anybody with political or business influence in counties Cork and Limerick, or in the Greater Munster area generally, should demand that a high proportion of the money be used to upgrade the road connection between the State’s two largest urban centres outside Dublin, namely Cork and Limerick cities.
The N20 national road from Cork to Limerick is not only highly dangerous, it’s an affront to the transport infrastructure of a 21st century Western European economy.
And within the past few weeks, those who had anticipated plans to upgrade it to motorway status were stunned when the same Mr Donohoe prevented the National Roads Authority from progressing even to the planning stage.
The reason given, the €1bn cost, is very valid at one level, and many commentators remain unconvinced of the cost-benefit ratio of some of the motorway network already built, particularly the M9 to Waterford.
But given successive governments’ prioritisation of investment in road transport, how in all fairness can the ongoing extension of the motorway network from Ennis to Gort and Tuam, take precedence over any significant investment in the N20?
The latter route not only connects Cork and Limerick but also the Ports of Cork and Foynes, two of the largest cargo ports in the country, and Cork and Shannon Airports.
Investment in the road linkage between these two airports would offer some compensation for the fact that the benefits arising from IAG’s acquisition of Aer Lingus are very heavily weighted in favour of Dublin Airport over the years ahead.
At a very minimum, the good burghers and indeed the good citizens of Munster should be banging on Finance Minister Michael Noonan’s door to secure money from the new Connectivity Fund to eliminate rapidly some of the death traps on the existing road, and to provide frequent passing lanes along its entire length.
Or could it be the case, that as a Limerick man anxious to protect his own particular economic patch, Michael Noonan isn’t overly interested in shortening the distance to those “arrogant” boyos down in Cork?
