Debate contribution: Public Petition: Road Safety at Darragh Cross
Debate contribution by Mr Nick Mathison on .
- MLA
- Mr Nick Mathison
- Party at the time
- Alliance Party
- Date
- 28 September 2026
- Type
- Debate contribution
- Business
- Assembly Business
- Heading
- Public Petition: Road Safety at Darragh Cross
- Assembly identifier
- Official Report component 5761982
Read the official Assembly record
Text
After the exchanges that we have just had in the Chamber, it feels slightly incongruous to be presenting a highly localised petition to the Assembly. I make no apology for doing so, however, because there has not been much that has been constructive in the exchanges that we have heard today. I make it clear that my party colleagues and I remain committed to representing our constituents constructively, and that is what the petition that I am presenting today is all about. The community of Darragh Cross is in the Strangford constituency. It is a small rural village, but a busy 40 mph road runs right through it. Residents on one side of the village who want to walk their children to school and those on the other side who want to cross the road to get to the local shop have to run the gauntlet every day to get past cars that are often driving at speeds well in excess of 40 mph. Even if the cars adhere to the speed limit, however, it is a dangerous crossing on a wide and busy road. The issue has been running on for years, and it is not just about the lack of a pedestrian crossing but about the appropriateness of the speed limit in the first instance. I pay tribute to the residents of Darragh Cross, particularly to one resident who reached out to me directly. He has a visual impairment and has advised me that, unless he is accompanied, he does not feel safe accessing services in his community. That cannot be acceptable. Regrettably, year-on-year, the Department for Infrastructure has simply adopted a "Computer says no" policy, saying that, because the village does not have the requisite amount of frontage development on both sides of the road, it will not install a crossing. That cannot be acceptable. If a policy results in scenarios in which a resident of a community feels that he cannot get out and about to access services safely and parents are clear that they will not let their children walk to school in a quiet rural village, something is wrong with the policy. I urge the Minister for Infrastructure to listen to the nearly 500 people of a very small settlement who have signed the petition and want to see the speed limit reduced and a safe pedestrian crossing installed. I urge her to engage with her officials and permit them to meet the residents and me on-site, because, unless they are on the ground and see the situation, they will not realise just how dangerous it is. The residents of Darragh Cross have been campaigning on the issue for years. I hope that the petition today gives voice to that campaign and that we can finally see some movement and progress.
467 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.
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