It is “cynical” to say that the Adare bypass has been approved simply because the Ryder Cup will be held in the town next year, a Minister and local TD has said.
The Ryder Cup will take place in the Limerick town in September 2027 and the Government has announced a series of infrastructure projects ahead of the event.
A temporary railway station will be constructed in Adare at a cost of €3 million, while the long awaited bypass is due to be completed by June 2027.
On The Claire Byrne Show, Sinn Féin TD Mairead Farrell described the Adare bypass as a necessary piece of infrastructure.
However, she questioned whether the town was receiving special treatment because of the Ryder Cup.
“The Government had a critical infrastructure bill where they refused to actually define what critical infrastructure is,” she said.
“So, is it now that critical infrastructure depends on what events will be taking place in that area or is it actually based on what you need?”
Adare Manor Castle Hotel. Picture by: The Irish Image Collection/Design Pics via ZUMA Wire.Also on the programme, Minister Niall Collins condemned this as a “cynical” way of looking at things.
“This bypass is a long time in gestation and finally it's being constructed,” he said.
“So, you're right to say that it has been expedited by virtue of the Ryder Cup.
“That decision was taken to carve out a section of the Limerick to Port of Foynes new road, where a seven kilometre section of that, where a carve out was made to construct that in advance of the Ryder Cup.”
The Limerick TD said the town has been waiting 40 years for a bypass and the project is “shovel ready”.
He added that the Government had long supported the building of the new road and it had gone through all the usual planning processes.
“It was kind of at the top of the queue,” he said.
“The same as every other large infrastructure project around the country goes through all of these processes; they're all different, they're all of their own challenges, they're unique and they pose their own problems in terms of trying to bring them to fruition.”
Main image: Rory McIlroy in Adare. Picture by: Alamy.com.
