Michael Fitzmaurice: Calls for urgent action on Western Rail Corridor
Michael Fitzmaurice spoke in the Dáil about the Western Rail Corridor and wider regional rail provision, urging the minister to secure funding and begin construction rather than relying on more reviews. He said the West, South and East deserve rail and warned that delays risk the money being diverted elsewhere.
Mr Fitzmaurice recalled works in 2004-2005 at Ballycool in Watermain and an area from Clannagh to Navon that was supposed to be reserved for rail, with posts left in place but no rail ever built. He recalled a 2016 conversation with the minister at the site and said nearly ten years later nothing has been done beyond a review.
He welcomed the current review as necessary but said he was "sick of looking at reviews and different focus groups," arguing the need for rail is already clear from communities such as Clare Morris, Tath and Rye. He echoed a previous speaker that the project "should be a giant up thing" and questioned why the West should get less than other parts of the country.
He raised a local incident where a bridge at Barna Jarrick or Barney Gloon was taken down during road works, drawing a "big hullabaloo" and an NRA intervention to replace it, and warned replacement costs are far higher now. He also referenced works at "Fines" and stressed that ports and freight facilities need to be brought forward to support goods movement if rail is to be effective.
Mr Fitzmaurice told the minister "you have the ball in your court now" and pressed for immediate funding and construction to be started, warning that if action is not taken now future ministers may reallocate the funds to other regions. He repeated his frustration at long delays, saying he has been raising the issue for years with no result.
Local memories and stalled projects
Mr Fitzmaurice recalled works in 2004-2005 at Ballycool in Watermain and an area from Clannagh to Navon that was supposed to be reserved for rail, with posts left in place but no rail ever built. He recalled a 2016 conversation with the minister at the site and said nearly ten years later nothing has been done beyond a review.
Welcomes review but rejects endless studies
He welcomed the current review as necessary but said he was "sick of looking at reviews and different focus groups," arguing the need for rail is already clear from communities such as Clare Morris, Tath and Rye. He echoed a previous speaker that the project "should be a giant up thing" and questioned why the West should get less than other parts of the country.
Costs and infrastructure concerns
He raised a local incident where a bridge at Barna Jarrick or Barney Gloon was taken down during road works, drawing a "big hullabaloo" and an NRA intervention to replace it, and warned replacement costs are far higher now. He also referenced works at "Fines" and stressed that ports and freight facilities need to be brought forward to support goods movement if rail is to be effective.
Demand for immediate funding and political warning
Mr Fitzmaurice told the minister "you have the ball in your court now" and pressed for immediate funding and construction to be started, warning that if action is not taken now future ministers may reallocate the funds to other regions. He repeated his frustration at long delays, saying he has been raising the issue for years with no result.
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Transcript
First of all, I remember in 2004 or 2005 doing the leaks at Ballycool in Watermain and I remember where an area from Clannagh to Navon was supposed to be left for rail and the rail was nearly coming the following day. It is still there and the posts are up and the bassoon rotting and no rail ever came. In the west, Clare Morris, Tath and Rye is ferociously important. You remember, Minister, on the 5th of May or whatever month it was in 2016, you and I were talking out there where you were getting into the programme for government at the time you went into government. The Western Rail Corridor in McKinney was teaching at the time. What has happened since? That is 10 years nearly now. Nothing has happened since other than this review and I welcome that review that it is needed. And I remember, I don't know, is it Barna Jarrick or Barney Gloon and a bridge was taken down the time of the road. There was a big hullabaloo about it. The NRA said they put it back up. How much will that cost extra now to put it back up compared with that time? I don't know, is it a million that time? It is going to cost an awful lot more now to put back up. But the bottom line, I am sick of looking at reviews and different focus groups and all of this. We know that it is needed from Clare Morris and indeed, as the previous Speaker has said, it should be a giant up thing. The West of Ireland deserves rail no more than any other part of the country. And I believe that the South needs it. I believe that the East needs it. And I have mentioned Navin already, which a lot of people live in. And we either decide to do it and put the funding into it and get it in place. Fines is being done under the tin tea, I think. And that is a great thing, because it needed doing. We need to make sure our ports are brought forward and that it gets the facility for basically for bringing goods for me to be. But all I am asking, Minister, when this all is over, someone else could be in your position. You have the ball in your court now. Get the funding, hop the ball in the air and start getting rail line put in place and the money put in place to put that together. Because my fear is, the minute someone from the West has gone out of this, they will be looking at another part of the country and they will be trying to tear that money towards it. That is my honest opinion. I wish you were looking doing it. I think it needs to be done. But if it is not done now, I think we will as well forget about talking about it. I am that long here and nothing happened. I am that long here and nothing happened.