Debate contribution: Storm Impact: A20 Portaferry Road

Debate contribution by Mr Nick Mathison on 3 February 2026.

MLA

Mr Nick Mathison

Party at the time

Alliance Party

Date

3 February 2026

Type

Debate contribution

Business

Adjournment

Heading

Storm Impact: A20 Portaferry Road

Assembly identifier

Official Report component 5363231

Read the official Assembly record

Text

I will not speak for long, because the issues have been covered very clearly by other Members but also because I am hosting an Education Committee event and have lots of stakeholders who are looking to speak to me about curriculum reform. I will probably have to dip out after this speech. I have a number of questions for the Minister, and I will certainly watch the debate recording to hear those answers. That can, maybe, be followed up in writing if need be. It has already been referenced that severe weather events are becoming more and more common and are only likely to become more so as the impacts of climate change become more obvious. It is coastal communities and coastal road users, as Kellie so clearly articulated, who are often the most immediately and severely affected during severe weather events and storms. I am very grateful to Kellie for securing this Adjournment debate today, which follows on from the debate brought by Michelle McIlveen in, I believe, 2024, because that stretch of road has been severely impacted. There have been some issues around road safety and tragic fatalities, but the recent weather events have had a profound impact on the road and have reduced the confidence of road users when it comes to using the road safely when we enter any period of bad weather. There are two main issues that I want to highlight. First, as has been referenced already, there is a need for clear action when it comes to the approach taken to road safety in advance of severe weather events. We are all aware of the horrendous incident back in December, when school buses and multiple other vehicles were stranded on that coastal road. Emergency services could not access those vehicles because it was not safe to get to them, and it was the local first responders who stepped up to help in the initial stages. That was a terrifying experience for the schoolchildren on the bus and for all the road users who were caught up in that. I would have thought that, with a proper early warning alert system, that could have been avoided. We need clarity on who is responsible for that to ensure that the relevant agencies, Translink, local schools and the public, through whatever channels can be utilised — perhaps through the local council — can be given early warnings about the safety of using that road or otherwise and that can lead to early decisions on road closure. Those decisions can be revised, but, given the incidents that we saw, the public need confidence that those systems are in place. I am keen to hear from the Minister what systems currently operate in DFI on that engagement and those early alerts and what can be done to improve them. The second issue that I want to raise is the longer-term picture for the road. A serious issue is arising. Coastal erosion has been a common theme among the other contributors today, but it is also about the severe weather incidents that are battering that road. The road was never designed to carry the volume of traffic that it currently carries, but there was probably no understanding that the impacts of coastal erosion would be so severe. There are genuine concerns about the long-term stability of that road. I understand that a stretch of road coming out of Newtownards is already earmarked for emergency repair by DFI, and anyone who uses that road regularly will be aware of the multiple sections where the verge at the side is clearly unstable, where the sea wall is damaged and where the stability of the road is undoubtedly questionable. I would really like the Minister to set out the strategic long-term plans for the road; how it is being protected from coastal erosion for the future; how the sea wall will be strengthened and enhanced; whether there are sections of coastal defences and rock armour that need to be repaired; and, indeed, whether rock armour is the appropriate response or whether other engineering interventions can be delivered to defend that road against erosion. Ultimately, is the road safe and stable in the medium term, and, if not, what are the Department's plans to provide a safe and sustainable road to carry traffic from Portaferry to Newtownards? I welcome clarity on all that. I will finish with a reference to the Tufty Club. You will be pleased to know, Mike, that it carried on right into the 1980s. I thoroughly enjoyed the lessons involving Tufty during my primary-school days.

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

Assessment

Not flagged

Jev’s structured answers

Assessed 21 October 2026 at 14:31 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.

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