AN APPLICATION FOR a judicial review of the contentious Galway Ring Road plan has been lodged with the High Court, with the Minister for Housing to be named as a notice party.
Campaigning charity Friends of the Irish Environment has applied for a judicial review of the proposed N6 Galway City Ring Road, which would construct an 18km road around the north of Galway city.
The plan is a bid to reduce traffic congestion in the busy city centre, but critics say it would be detrimental to Ireland’s climate objectives and fail to solve the congestion problem.
Green Party Senator Pauline O’Reilly said she welcomes “a transparent judicial review” of An Bord Pleanála’s decision to approve the road.
“The Galway Ring Road is an old solution to traffic problems in Galway. This will only lead to more sprawl and more problems,” O’Reilly said.
The senator said she has “huge concerns that An Bord Pleanála did not take into consideration the effects on emissions when coming to their decision”.
“They have obligations under the Climate Act and Climate Action Plan to do so and I welcome a transparent Judicial Review of the decision.”
A judicial review can be carried out when an application is made to the High Court to challenge a decision by an administrative body or a lower court.
In a statement, Friends of the Irish Environment said that High Court Justice Richard Humphreys gave them permission to make some amendments to their application to judicially review the proposed road, including adding Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government Darragh O’Brien as a notice party.
He adjourned the matter for a week.
“The application comes nine years after the original scheme was struck down after a seminal reference to the European Court of Justice in a case brought by veteran environmentalist Peter Sweetman determined that the project would damage the ‘integrity’ of the protected limestone pavement,” FIE said.
An Bord Pleanála approved the plan for the 18km road in December after months of deliberations.
Tánaiste Leo Varadkar said the approval was “excellent news”, while Galway County Council, Galway City Council and Transport Infrastructure Ireland jointly welcomed the decision in a statement calling it “welcome news for the thousands of commuters” in the city “who find themselves at a standstill for long periods in traffic congestion”.
The planned road, which would cost €600 million, would run from the existing R336 Coast Road west of Bearna to the N6 at Coolagh Junction.
It would include a new bridge and viaduct over the River Corrib and two tunnels in the east of the city.
54 residences were told they would be subject to a compulsory purchase order and demolition if the road was approved - The Journal and Noteworthy spoke to affected locals last April.
Derrick Hambleton, a former head of the Galway branch of sustainable development NGO An Taisce, said that locals want to be able to go about their days without being caught in traffic but that “a lot of people are beginning to realise that this road is not going to solve” it.
When the plan was approved, a spokesperson for Minister Eamon Ryan said that “if there are no legal challenges the [ring road] project will move to the next stage where it will be assessed under the Public Spending Code under a range of criteria”.
Galway County Council said the potential legal challenges made it difficult to determine a timeline, but that it estimated that the final detailed design and tendering would take around 18 months to two years.
The National Development Plan includes several major roads that have been discussed for years, such as the Galway City ring road and the M20 between Cork and Limerick.
However, climate experts say Ireland must focus on facilitating modes of transport like cycling, walking, buses and trains instead of cars to make critical emissions reductions.
According to figures from the CSO for 2019 (before the pandemic), the transport sector accounts for around 20% of all emissions.
More than 70% of all journeys are made by cars, which typically have higher emissions per passenger compared to modes like buses or trains.
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