Many landowners in the Charlestown area are both surprised and angered at the new preferred corridor route published for a new section of the N17, running from Ireland West Airport Knock to Collooney.

According to local Sinn Fein councillor Gerry Murray the landowners and farmers affected were astonished last week when the long awaited preferred corridor route was published by Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII), for the 30km stretch of new road, as it includes a new proposed location for the connection from the N5 onto the N17, close to the town of Charlestown.

Back in 2004, when the new N5 was under construction, TII, formerly known as the NRA, under compulsory purchased orders acquired a land bank of about 16 acres, outside Charlestown and assured the farmers affected that it would be the connection point for the N5 on to a new N17 route and that their farmland would not be impacted again.

However, that land bank is now not part of the new N17 route, and instead a new route, requiring additional farmland and houses will have to be acquired to accommodate it.

Councillor Murray has been telling Midwest News Editor Teresa O’Malley why there is major discontent locally with the proposed new route of the N17 in the Charlestown area…