Road to Dublin 'a dangerous farce': Parsley

12.00.00am BST (GMT +0100) Fri 17th Jun 2005

Alliance Party Councillor Ian Parsley has described the ongoing failure to even consider a motorway from Belfast to the border as 'farcical and dangerous'.

Mr Parsley, who is local businessman with interests on both sides of the border, stated, "The failure to recognize the strategic economic importance of the Belfast-Dublin corridor is yet another outcome of our failure to engage in real politics here. The result is a farce, a road totally unsuited for its purpose between the two major cities on the island -- and by failing to link up properly with Dublin we are paying the economic consequences.

"Worse still, the road remains a death trap. The continuing stretches of single carriageway on that road were recently marked as among the most dangerous on the island, and even the dual carriageway sections are frankly lethal as traffic turns right across the carriageway across oncoming, high-speed traffic.

"The announcement that no motorway services will be provided south of the border emphasizes still further the need for a proper, high-standard motorway on the northern side, complete with service station. A motorway -- which by necessity will require tolls just as it does in the Republic -- is the only way to provide a route fit for its economic purpose, and a standard of road which saves lives."

ENDS