‘It is the luck of God that people weren’t killed’ – Mayo councillors demand report on N5 after last week’s cold snap
At the first monthly meeting of Mayo County Council for 2026, discussions about the recent cold spell and the council's gritting programme dominated the agenda for more than an hour.
While councillors took the opportunity to thank gritting crews for working in dangerous conditions, often during early hours and throughout the Christmas period to keep roads safe, questions were raised about the surface of the new section of the N5 that bypasses Castlebar to get to Westport.
The new section of road was described as a “sheet of ice”, and a motion was brought forward calling for an investigation into the road surface amid concerns that it has significantly less grip than older sections of the N5, and poses a greater danger to drivers in icy conditions.
The issue was highlighted by Cllr John O’Malley and Cllr Chris Maxwell, who were travelling on the N5 by bus to Athlone for the Mercosur Protest on the morning of Saturday, January 10. Their bus was stranded on the road for nearly three hours.
Once their bus had passed the Claremorris turn-off, Cllr O’Malley described the scene as “chaos” with “trucks on the side of the road and cars crossways on the road.”
“It seems to me the surface on these news roads are slippier than any road you could ever stand on,” he said.
The group were stranded on the N5 from 8.20am until 11.05am. Cllr O’Malley said he tried to get help from the council but eventually had to take matters into his own hands and phone a private contractor.
“We made a phone call ourselves to an agricultural contractor. I can’t understand why someone in the council couldn’t ring him. We rang him, he was free, he came out and got the Gardaí to come with him,” Cllr O’Malley explained.
“The Gardaí escorted him up, stopped the traffic, he gritted the road and put enough of the stuff on it. He whitened the road with it, and ten minutes later we were away,” he said.
He questioned why the council could not call in contractors directly in such situations, suggesting that farmers with tractors and fertiliser spreaders could assist and said that many would be willing to help.
Cllr Kilcoyne also raised concerns about the N5 after receiving representations from residents in Islandeady regarding the road conditions.
“It was like a sheet of ice. The major problems seem to be with the new road - the €300m road,” he said.
He tabled the motion calling on the council to carry out an investigation and prepare a report into the surface of the new road.
The Castlebar councillor said that while drivers were “sliding around” on the new section of the N5, the old road provided much better grip.
“How was it that a part of the road was like a piece of glass and then you come onto the old section and you get a grip?” he asked.
“It is the luck of God that people weren’t killed,” he added.
Cllr Ger Deere seconded these concerns, saying it was “beggars belief” that the new, and very expensive, section of road was so dangerous on that morning, while at the same time “the N5 out of Castlebar that is 30 years old was fully operational.”
The motion to commission an investigation into the road surface of the new section of the N5 was seconded and agreed by councillors.
In the meeting Acting Head of Roads at Mayo County Council, Conrad Harley, addressed councillors and informed them that gritting crews had already been on 45 callouts in 2026.
Gritting crews were deployed in Mayo from Tuesday, December 23, to Saturday, January 10, twice a day except on one day. He said that teams had gritted 1,400 km of roads this winter.
The recent spell of weather has been particularly challenging, with low ground temperatures, air temperatures just above zero, and ongoing rain creating very dangerous road conditions across Mayo.
Mr Harley emphasised that gritting decisions are made at a county level and that it is impossible to grit every single road at the exact optimal time.
“Members of the public need to take heed of the road conditions. Just because we grit the road doesn’t mean it is clear. We have to drive at the appropriate speed for the conditions out there,” he said.
On Saturday, January 10, Mr Harley reported that six gritters were unable to complete their routes. One truck was severely damaged and sent for repairs, while another, that was attempting a second round of gritting on the N5, also failed after the first truck went off route.
He said new technology was coming to the county to improve gritting efficiency. One brining station is already operational in Castlebar, and a second has received planning approval in Claremorris, with hopes it will be ready for the next season.
The brining process involves spraying a mixture of water and salt onto the grit as it is distributed, which increases adhesion and leaves more salt on the road.
For the time being, however, he reported that the service is at “maximum capacity in relation to costs and resources.”
This article has been funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.