Monaghan Senator Robbie Gallagher has called for Shared Island funding to be allocated towards the upgrade of the N53-Castleblayney to Dundalk Road. According to Senator Gallagher, the N53 has a very poor safety record and is often described as an accident black spot. The N53 which runs from Castleblayney to Dundalk with a section that runs through Northern Ireland is a road of "strategic importance" says Senator Gallagher, with the importance of Dundalk Institute of Technology likely to increase in the "not-too-distant future." While there have been some piecemeal improvements over the years, Senator Gallagher told Northern Sound that this road needs "substantial improvement" to bring it up to modern-day standards. As a result, he has called on the Minister of State, Martin Heydon to explore the possibility of the shared island unit being an avenue for such funding.
"The Minister gave me an undertaking that he would have a look at Shared Island and I'm going to communicate myself with the Shared Island Unit as well in relation to funding. The Shared Island has been particularly good to Co Monaghan and we see the game changer that it was in relation to funding for the Ulster Canal. I think that this is a mechanism that we should pursue, it's of cross border importance and equally as important to the people of Northern Ireland as it is indeed to us here in the South. It's an avenue that we will be pursuing so we will keep the pressure on and try and move this forward."
