Debate contribution: Roads: A1 Junctions Phase 2

Debate contribution by Mrs Diane Dodds on 24 March 2026.

MLA

Mrs Diane Dodds

Party at the time

Democratic Unionist Party

Date

24 March 2026

Type

Debate contribution

Business

Adjournment

Heading

Roads: A1 Junctions Phase 2

Assembly identifier

Official Report component 5463923

Read the official Assembly record

Text

I thank my constituency colleague for securing the debate. It is a subject that the Minister and I have talked about many times. She has answered many questions in the Chamber on the A1. I live along the side of the A1. It is my route on to the carriageway that carries so much danger every time that it is used. As Eóin has said, when you live in Banbridge, the A1 is one of those topics that is constantly on the agenda, because it is so dangerous. Traffic is fast, and those middle turns are a very, very dangerous way of getting across the carriageway, particularly because lorries, for example, try to use them and then block the oncoming traffic. The A1 junctions phase 2 project has been on the go for a long time. It is a relatively small project, if you think about it against the A5. It is 25 kilometres between Loughbrickland and Hillsborough, but it is the main arterial route linking Belfast and Dublin. It is a route that carries over 40,000 cars every day — it is a hugely busy piece of road.

Closing up those gaps in the central median and the provision of the new junctions will make an enormous difference to the safety of my constituents as they try to exit or cross that road. I appreciate that the Minister, in extending the restricted period, has kept the A1 scheme almost on life support while waiting for the outcome of the A5 project. However, Minister, I cannot overemphasise the dangerous nature of the road and the fact that, as I come to Belfast in the mornings, there are regularly accidents on that piece of road.

I am glad that the now Minister of Finance spoke in the debate, because we had him out in Banbridge to discuss the road, the new junctions and so on, and we were very hopeful that that scheme would progress and perhaps be started before the end of this mandate. That gave us some hope, but we are now in a situation where a number of very strategic infrastructure projects, whether they are as large as the A5, the A1, the Lagan footbridge or whatever, are now in abeyance while we wait for the judgement in the A5 appeal. It is a bit ironic that the person who secured the debate and the Minister who will respond to it both voted for the climate change targets that are at the very heart of the A5 judgement.

In a way, I understand the argument that you are putting forward, but the fact of the matter is that Justice McAlinden, in delivering his judgement on the A5, said that it was. We can only go with the judgement that was handed down. Unless the Minister is going to operate at risk and override the judgement, we will have to deal with Justice McAlinden's judgement, in which he said that those climate change targets could not be met if these infrastructure projects went ahead. We have a huge problem with infrastructure in Northern Ireland and the issues that flow from it. Minister, in your response to the debate, I would like you to help us understand what is going on with the current appeal. I understand that Justice McAlinden has been asked to rule on a new point of law. He said:

"This is entirely unfair and unacceptable and constitutes an unprincipled approach to litigation by two government departments ... I state with the utmost conviction that I regard this approach as nothing less than ‘gaslighting’."

That is Justice McAlinden in his most recent interim report on the A5, which is intricately bound up with how we can progress on the A1. I would like Members to understand that. We need to understand what is going on and why someone as eminent as Justice McAlinden, who handed down that judgement, is saying that two Departments of this Executive are behaving in an "unprincipled", "unacceptable" and "unfair" way and "gaslighting" the court. That really needs to be answered. Minister, we want the A1 to go ahead, and I know that you want the A1 to go ahead. It is essential for the safety of road users, not just those from Upper Bann, where most of this falls into —

I will. — but those across Northern Ireland. It is important that the Minister explains to those in the Gallery what is happening.

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

Assessment

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Assessed 21 October 2026 at 15:16 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.

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