DEPUTY FIRST Minister Martin McGuinness has accused the Government of reneging on a major commitment after it withdrew £400 million (€470 million) in funding to upgrade the A5 road in Northern Ireland.
First Minister Peter Robinson expressed disappointment at the decision, although the DUP Minister for Finance Sammy Wilson said the equal sum he had set aside for the project could now go on houses, hospitals and schools.
Under the St Andrew’s agreement, the two administrations were to share the £800 million (€940 million) cost of upgrading the 50-mile route from the Border at Aughnacloy in Co Tyrone to Derry city, which would additionally have improved access to Letterkenny and north Donegal.
The Department of Transport was yesterday maintaining that it remained “politically committed” to begin work on the programme before 2016 and was treating the decision as a deferral rather than a cancellation of the project.
“We remain politically committed to this project and expect work to commence during the lifetime of the 2012-2016 capital programme. The exact timeframe and sections to be commenced/ completed during the programme will have to be worked out with the Northern Ireland Executive in the coming months,” said a spokesman for the department.
It was clear though that the view in the North was that the decision amounted to an effective abandoning of the project for some years. “There is a big difference between being ‘politically committed’ and ‘financially committed’,” said an Executive source.
