In a statement on June 24, 2025, a spokesperson for Comhairle Uladh (Ulster Executive), Sinn Féin Poblachtach said: “Yet again, we witness a crushing blow for road safety as an upgrade of the A5 is blocked.

“The British administration in Stormont had plans to construct a £1.7bn A5 Western Transport Corridor (A5WTC) from as far back as 2007. This project represented 85km of new road infrastructure stretching from south of Derry City at New Buildings to as far down as Aughnacloy, Co Tyrone.

“This week British Judge McAlinden handed down his verdict, a final ruling, that the construction of the A5WTC will not proceed in its current form, as the plans do not comply with climate change targets in the Occupied Six Counties.

“Public opinion has been very forthright and time and time again this project was deemed a failure. It has been continually delayed due to legal challenges and funding complications. According to the Irish News, it is the third time in 18 years that plans to upgrade the arterial route – one of Occupied Ireland’s most dangerous roads – have been successfully challenged. Over that same period, spanning as many years, sadly, more than 50 people have lost their lives in accidents on the A5.

“When something this politically big goes wrong in the Occupied Six Counties the usual position is to look for someone or something to blame. The news media columnist Newton Emerson has wasted little time in pointing out that the SDLP were in charge of the Department for Infrastructure when the British Climate Change Act was passed and that not only did the SDLP back the Act, they wanted a stricter version of it. So the blame game has landed on the SDLP opposition benches. The sackcloth and ashes have been imposed and now they have to serve up the details.
“Sinn Féin Poblachtach has said that what we are witnessing nowadays is political flip-flopping which is a major detriment to working class people. This type of populism has taken root in the corridors of the British administration at Stormont.

“In the meantime, the SDLP has gone full circle and called for the Climate Change Act 2022 to be amended. At the same time, environmentalists have said that there was a lack of evidence that it would not prevent the Occupied Six Counties meeting British imposed net-zero climate change targets by 2050.”

PRO
Comhairle Uladh (Ulster Executive),
Sinn Féin Poblachtach

CRÍOCH/ENDS

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