Debate contribution: Roads: A1 Junctions Phase 2

Debate contribution by Mr Justin McNulty on 24 March 2026.

MLA

Mr Justin McNulty

Party at the time

Social Democratic and Labour Party

Date

24 March 2026

Type

Debate contribution

Business

Adjournment

Heading

Roads: A1 Junctions Phase 2

Assembly identifier

Official Report component 5463941

Read the official Assembly record

Text

The A1 junctions phase 2 scheme aims to provide further safety improvements along the A1 dual carriageway between Hillsborough and Loughbrickland. The improvements will include the provision of new grade-separated junctions, the closing up of all gaps in the central reservation and the provision of continuous central reserve safety barriers along the entire route. I thank the Member for Upper Bann for securing this Adjournment debate and the Minister for being here to hear it this evening. Seven years ago, a young man was travelling along the A1, and he met traffic that was coming the wrong way. He had no time to react. His life was ended in an instant. We have all had near misses on that road, but Karl Heaney did not have a near miss that night. He could not escape what he came upon. Karl's mother, Monica Heaney, is in the Gallery this evening. Talk about strength, forbearance and determination: despite her pain and trauma, she has been a determined advocate for movement on that road improvement scheme over the past number of years. I cannot begin to empathise with the pain experienced by Monica Heaney and the families of the other 40 victims over the past 20 years. They hope that the road will be improved, but they are not seeing much from this place, unfortunately. The A1 links the two largest cities on this island. It links many families, friends, commuters, tourists and all those who travel between Belfast and Dublin. The road is located on a strategically important transport corridor for our island that connects our two major cities. It should be a place of safety and connectivity. However, the A1 has been plagued by tragic accidents, injuries and deaths, which have, in part, been due to the dangerous junctions and people crossing the dual carriageway. The project has been planned since 2006, and it has had multiple iterations. A year ago, there was hope when Minister Kimmins announced that the project had gone past the pre-qualification stage, the shortlist for contractors had been agreed and the Department was going out to final tender. Then — bam — the A5 judgement pulled the plug on the A5 and the A1. It is telling that we have two parties in the Chamber whose Ministers are inextricably linked to that judgement. I will read out parts of reports of Judge McAlinden's ruling on the A5 and what he said about the Departments. In a damning ruling, High Court judge Mr Justice McAlinden accused Stormont Departments of being "unprincipled" and engaging in "gaslighting" regarding the long-delayed A5 road upgrade project in the North. The judge strongly criticised the Department for Infrastructure and the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs for their handling of the legal challenges surrounding the £1·6 billion, 58-mile project, which aims to dual the major route between Derry and Aughnacloy. As for gaslighting, Mr Justice McAlinden stated that the Departments tried to introduce new, contradictory arguments during an appeal regarding the project's compliance with climate change targets, portraying them as their original position, which the judge deemed to be "entirely unfair and unacceptable". On their contradictory approach, the judge highlighted a:

"glaring and somewhat breathtaking inconsistency of approach",

which he said was "fundamentally at odds" with the case that they had previously presented. On breaching climate goals, the legal challenges brought by the Alternative A5 Alliance were upheld based on the project's failure to comply with the North's strict net-zero emission targets. The judge previously ruled that arguments about the project's approval were "irrational".

Despite those legal failings, there have been more than 57 deaths on the A5 since 2006, leading to intense political pressure to proceed with the improvements.

We can therefore talk about the A1 all that we like, but it will not proceed without the A5. The failure of the A5 project comes down to two Departments that were the subject of strong judgements by a judge in the North who stated what went wrong on that front. Multiple questions remain. Why was the A1 project stalled? Yes, it was down to the A5, but why was it stalled? Who made the decision not to proceed with the A1 project? What happens to the pre-qualification stage now and to the tendering that has already been completed? Do the shortlisted contractors remain in place? What about the contract value? I heard the Member for Upper Bann John O'Dowd talk about greater legal protections for Executive projects. What have the Executive done on that front? How have the Executive progressed such protections? As I have said already, Monica Heaney is here today, and I hope that the parties can give hope to her and all the families who have lost loved ones on the A1.

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

Assessment

Not flagged

Jev’s structured answers

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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