"In Northern Ireland we need to maximise capital spending projects that will help grow the economy - not waste scarce resources on 'vanity projects'", the chairman of the Northern Ireland Conservatives chairman said today, following an announcement that the Republic’s government has pulled funding for the A5 road project. But he urged the transport minister to clarify the status of the A8 Belfast-Larne route, which was also in line to receive part of the money.
"The lavish A5 project offered very few economic benefits for Northern Ireland. It was pushed for political reasons by Sinn Fein and the DUP were prepared to agree - no doubt as part of some grubby carve up. Hopefully this will spell the end of it.”
“On the other hand the £400 million which the Republic’s government committed was also designed to cover improvements to the A8 road between Belfast and Larne. Danny Kennedy needs to clarify immediately how that route will be affected", Ballymena businessman Irwin Armstrong continued.
"David Cameron hit the nail on the head when he said that Northern Ireland needs to build a shared future and not a shared out future. We should be concentrating on capital projects which will remove traffic bottle necks that are costing businesses money, rather than devising contentious schemes with political overtones.”
“The A8 is an excellent example of a worthy project and we’d also be much better looking at improvements around Carrickfergus, the Sydenham bypass and the end of the Westlink at York Road rather than devouring thousands of acres of prime farmland in Tyrone, against the wishes of farmers. Indeed the A2 road between Londonderry and Belfast is also in desperate need of work,"
"We all know that David Cameron's government has had to take tough decisions to deal with the mess left by Labour and the international financial crisis, however, Northern Ireland got the best possible settlement from Treasury - and the most generous in the entire UK. The issue now is how best to use that settlement to best advantage – and pouring money into a wasteful scheme like the A5 made little sense.”
"Hopefully the Republic of Ireland government’s decision spells an end to that folly, but the executive needs to clarify whether important improvements to the A8 road are now in jeopardy.”