Calls for urgent repair of ‘disaster’ Moyvoughley road

“If you don’t know the road and you’re going any way fast, you would lose control,” Cllr Tom Farrell told colleagues and officials at the September meeting of the Athlone Moate Municipal District.

He was talking about the deteriorating condition of the Moyvoughley Moate Road (L1303) and he tabled a motion calling for restoration works to be prioritised, warning that “a number of accidents” have occurred on the route in recent months.

“The amount of humps and bumps on that road, you wouldn’t know unless you were used to it,” he said.

Cllr Farrell noted that residents recorded 966 vehicles using the road in just two hours on August 9, partly because Google Maps directs traffic that way to Center Parcs. School buses also use the road.

Cllr Vinny McCormack, the cathaoirleach of the Municipal District, supported the motion, along with Cllr Liam McDaniel, Cllr John Dolan, and Cllr Johnny Penrose.

Cllr McCormack described the road as “extremely severe” in places, used by tourists and by heavy agricultural machinery.

“Unless you know where they are, [the potholes] would leave you over the other side of the road or in the ditch if you were travelling at 60 or 70kmh.”

He said a discussion with district engineers led him to understand that some works will be carried out on the road over the coming weeks.

“We have had people pushing that road for a long number of years, and I wouldn’t want it out there in public opinion that the road is neglected.

“During my time in council, I can’t remember a year when money wasn’t put into that road. You only get seven or eight years out of the road. It’s a bog road, and you will find that after the summer, there are patches that will sink.

“In fairness to Willie and Denis, they wait until the summer is over to see the extent of the damage, and they have the money there ready to go to fix the issue.”

Cllr Dolan added that a long-term solution would require a full reconstruction. “The bog road is a disaster. We need to dig it down to the base and fill it up.”

The executive issued a written response, which read: “This approved scheme and all similar road recycling works on the Transportation Programme are scheduled for reconstruction in October/November 2025.”

In direct response to the discussion in the council chamber, district engineer Willie Ryan referred to the Guidelines on the Rehabilitation of Roads over Peat, published in 2014.

He noted that the guidelines are to be updated, and he is awaiting the release of the new version.

“The solution really is to dig out these roads. We only get a short time out of the roads, and a lot of holes are left after a particularly dry summer.

“We will certainly prioritise that road, it’s in very rough shape,” Mr Ryan concluded.