‘It’s a noose around our necks’ – Push to have Drogheda M1 tolls abolished gathers momentum

By Olivia Ryan, The Drogheda Independent

The people of Drogheda “shouldn’t have to pay a daily price for national infrastructure,” councillors heard at the January meeting of Drogheda Borough District, where calls were echoed for the removal of the M1 Toll.

Cllr. James Byrne submitted a motion calling on Louth County Council to engage with the Minister for Transport in a discussion on the future of the M1 Tolls “given their prolonged negative impact on Drogheda from an economic and social perspective, with the intention of pushing for their removal.”

He told the council meeting: “I firmly believe that the location of the tolls is having a detrimental impact on the economic and social fabric of the town.”

"The roads in Drogheda simply can’t support the traffic, you can’t have normal movement around the town, which is making it less viable and less attractive for visitors, compared to other towns. It is a noose around our necks.”

He said that while he appreciated it was the government, and not Louth County Council, who have responsibility for the tolls, he hoped to get the council’s backing for a conversation on the future of tolls on the M1.

Cllr. Byrne called for the Borough District members to “look beyond party politics” and work together on the campaign.

News in 90 Seconds, Friday January 9

He added that the initial reasoning for the tolls was to cover costs of the road building “but after all these years we need a frank and honest conversation about the future of the tolls.”

Cllr. Kevin Callan outlined how long the campaign had been running, recalling that a petition was carried out in 2010, which tens of thousands of people had signed.

He said a meeting was held with the toll operators at that time, “but halfway through the meeting a trolley was pulled out, filled with books which we were told was the contract.”

"But the reality is that time has moved on, and we are approaching the time when that contract is going to run its course. The question then will be is the road going to be taken over by the state, and if the state will continue with the toll.”

The motion was “extremely timely”, said Cllr. Callan as discussions would need to take place about removing the toll and moving the toll plaza away from Drogheda.

"The businesses of Drogheda are severely impacted by this and have been for decades.”

Cllr. Callan said he was caught up in the traffic delays which followed a serious crash on the M1 before Christmas.

“It took four and a half hours travelling through Duleek and Platin,” he told the meeting.

Questions had to be asked, he said, about why the tolls were not opened to help alleviate the back up of traffic.

"I don’t think there was any effort by the operator to remove the tolls to allow vehicles to move through quicker, so there were hundreds of thousands of people impacted by that.”

Cllr. Pio Smith welcomed the motion, adding that Louth TD, Ged Nash, had posed the question two years ago in the Dáil as to how much it would cost to buy out the toll.

"He was told it was €7 million. So, when you think of €7 million in the context of the national budget, and it still hasn’t been done when people have been campaigning on this for ten or fifteen years?”

Cllr. Declan Power added his support for the motion, saying: “The people of Drogheda should not have to pay a daily price for national infrastructure, it really is as simple a that.”

He added: “We are the only town which is tolled along the M1, and it has a real impact.”

Cllr. Eric Donovan said: “It is a simple thing, a change which could really allow Drogheda to flourish. I don’t think there is anybody in the town who would disagree with this motion.”

Cllr. Paddy McQuillan added that PANCR will bring a lot more trucks, adding that if the toll was opened “they wouldn’t be going anywhere near the town.”

Mayor Michelle Hall said Minister O’Brien has been in Drogheda a number of times, and had “promised several things for Drogheda which unfortunately he hasn’t followed through on.”

In a written response Thomas McEvoy, Director of Service for Economic Delivery said Louth County Council would write to the Minister of Transport to highlight the views of members.