Monaghan County Council are beginning what is being described as a "pothole blitz" across the county's roads this week. The four-week programme of emergency pothole-filling is in response to the countless complaints from residents and, in turn, from local representatives to the Council, about the state of Monaghan roads. The repair scheme takes in 123 local roads.
Money to build or repair roads in Monaghan and every local authority in Ireland comes from central government. Monaghan County Council calculated this year's money allocation is €5.9m short of what it would take to carry out all the roadworks required. Councillors and TDs from every political party have appealed to the Department of Transport for money, but while they wait, Monaghan County Council has initiated the pothole repair programme.
Councillor Paudge Connolly welcomed what he calls the "pothole blitz" and said the state of the roads is one of the biggest issue for Monaghan voters: "As a councillor, say you're in a particular area and someone says 'look at that road' you're going in that evening or maybe pulling the car up a little while later and making a call into the council to say I'm on road x and I've seen these potholes for myself and they are in need of repair," Cllr Connolly told Northern Sound, "I would think every councillor has at least a couple of roads they report each day so, yes, it's a very, very big issue on the doorstep and yes, our roads section is getting blitzed with calls but, I have to recognise they are responding to those calls hitting the roads now when the weather is improving and I think that's a good thing."
