Wexford residents can’t get out to work ‘without bursting a tyre’ as wait continues for emergency roads funding

By Simon Bourke, Wexford People

Residents in Wexford are still waiting for roads in their area to be repaired almost three months on from Storm Chandra. In the wake of the storm, many roads in the New Ross Municipal District (NRMD) were rendered impassable as giant potholes opened up in the worst affected areas.

And although Wexford County Council (WCC) has applied for emergency funding from the Department of Transport to repair these roads, it has yet to receive confirmation of how much money will be allocated for these works.

At the April meeting of the NRMD, Councillor Pat Barden expressed his frustration at the delay, recounting how he had burst two tyres on his own car trying to navigate the district’s rural roads.

“There’s people onto me every day of the week who can’t get out to work without bursting one of their tyres, it surely shouldn’t take this long for the transport minister to decide how much he’s going to give us,” he said. ”I’ve had two burst tyres in the space of two days, at a cost of €200 each. This is happening all over the district and nobody gives a damn.

“It’s bad enough having to pay for diesel at the moment, now people’s cars are being broken up on the road as well. This government has let down the people in rural Ireland, it doesn’t seem to understand how bad things are.”

Hoping for assistance from those in high office, Cathaoirleach John Dwyer proposed that Ceann Comhairle Verona Murphy TD be contacted to see if she could be “used in our favour”. However, Cllr Bridín Murphy quickly dismissed this suggestion, reminding her colleague that the ceann comhairle was, by statute, required to be impartial at all times.

“She could certainly have a word with someone,” insisted Cllr Dwyer.

“She can’t do anything - except charity runs and coffee mornings,” noted Cllr Michael Sheehan.

But director of roads Eamonn Hore said there would be no need to involve the ceann comhairle or any of the county’s other TDs.

“We’re not waiting for the department to commit funding, we have started the repairs on the very bad roads in anticipation of the funding coming,” he said. “Every county is looking for money, including our neighbours in Carlow and Kilkenny. We will get something, we just don’t know how much.”