Debate contribution: A5 Western Transport Corridor Scheme

Debate contribution by Mr Colm Gildernew on 22 September 2025.

MLA

Mr Colm Gildernew

Party at the time

Sinn Féin

Date

22 September 2025

Type

Debate contribution

Business

Opposition Business

Heading

A5 Western Transport Corridor Scheme

Assembly identifier

Official Report component 5124078

Read the official Assembly record

Text

Go raibh maith agat, a Leas-Cheann Comhairle.

I thank everyone for their contributions to the debate. From the outset, I set out the fact that my thoughts and feelings are with all those, including clubmates and family friends of mine, who have lost loved ones on that road over so many years and at a very young age. Every single one of those tragedies is an individual disaster for those families, that community and their friends. That has been well endorsed by everyone in the Chamber and should be central to everything that we do. I want to focus some of my remarks, however, on the fact that the lack of an adequate, modern road in that part of the country — I mean up through Tyrone, Fermanagh and Derry, connecting to Donegal and Monaghan and right on down to Dublin — impacts completely on key economic, health, social and strategic imperatives. First, on the economy, our businesses in the mid-Ulster and south Tyrone area are world-leading in engineering, food production and other forms of manufacturing and innovation. They deserve good connectivity to the rest of the world. They contribute massively to the economy here. They deserve a road that is sufficient to get their goods, workers and customers in and out — all that. Our people in that part of the country deserve to have roads that are as good as they are anywhere else. At this point in time, we do not have them.

Absolutely. Within 15 miles of where I live, there are businesses operating that are equivalent to five Bombardiers. They send materials all over the world, put in their own generators and build their own sheds. They do all that. They are entitled to have such a road. Secondly, I want to touch on health. Do not doubt this for a second, but it will be impossible to deliver health transformation without delivering proper infrastructure. You simply cannot deliver health services to a rural geography without addressing the main way in which you move people around in an emergency and the timing of that. The A5 is critical for health transformation and access to health for all our people day and daily, and that includes emergency health and healthcare. Thirdly, I want to touch on the social and community element. I thank the Minister, who came up to Aughnacloy over the summer months to look at the impact that the A5 is having on that town. Essentially, you cannot cross the main street in Aughnacloy at any time of the day or a large part of the night without the traffic on one of the main roads in Ireland having to stop in both directions to let you across. That is the impact. It cuts like a knife through the town of Aughnacloy and through Garvaghy and Glenchuil, dividing those communities. When the road was built, it served and was usable by the community. The traffic volumes that have built, with more strategic traffic on the road, are now a barrier to people crossing the road. Either they take the risk, literally risking their life, or simply put off their visit and do not bother. That is why — I am touching on the UUP amendment and Robbie's remarks — it is important to remember that the community needs a decent road. The single carriageway road that exists now should be for community use. The road has two purposes: strategic traffic and local traffic. Both need to be facilitated, and they have different needs. Community traffic needs exits off the road all along the way, and the strategic traffic needs to be able to continue. The danger and the cause of a lot of the accidents on the A5 are in the fact that there are so many turn-offs, including roads, lanes and gates, in every one of which is a potential hazard and a potential fatal accident. That is why a new dual carriageway has to be built offline. The road is also important in the day-to-day delivery of social healthcare. Rather than cross the road, agency staff sometimes travel miles just to use a roundabout in order to come back. My fourth point is a strategic one. May I check whether I have an extra minute for the intervention?

Thank you. Not that I will need it — not half.

Quickly, Robbie.

Absolutely. People's driving should be in keeping with the road conditions; that is another factor that we need to consider. In strategic terms, we need to develop the western economic corridor into the equivalent of what runs from Dublin to Belfast to allow businesses not only west of the Bann, as we say, but in the west of Ireland the equal opportunity that they need to trade and thrive in the way that we all want to see. We will not develop or deliver regional balance in the North unless we crack that nut and provide good roads. The A5 project rightly remains an Executive priority, and there is massive social licence for it, for all the reasons that we have talked about today. No one should put that in jeopardy by playing politics for perceived short-term gain. I am proud to have sat beside my colleague today as she set out the reality of the situation and what she is going to do about it through a series of solutions and actions. Let us understand that what we need are solutions and not sound bites. Sin é.

917 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.

Assessment

Not flagged

Jev’s structured answers

Assessed 21 October 2026 at 13:13 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.

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