Road Network Seanad Éireann — 2026-04-29 ============================================================ Garret Kelleher (FG), Industrial and Commercial Panel Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire Stáit, an Teachta Buttimer, atá anseo chun plé a dhéanamh ar shábháilteacht ar an mbóthar N20 idir Corcaigh agus Mala, go háirithe ag an bpríomh-chrosbhealach ag Mainistir na Móna. As he is from Cork, the Minister of State will be very familiar with the N20 national primary road between Cork and Mallow and the difficulties faced by local residents in many communities along the route in crossing the road safely. Residents of Waterloo, Whitechurch, Grenagh, Rathduff, Burnfort and Mourneabbey, the latter of which will be the main focus of this Commencement matter, all face similar dangers and challenges crossing the road and going about their daily business, going to work and bringing children to school. These safety concerns have been exacerbated by the significant increase in the volume of traffic on the road in recent years. Transport Infrastructure Ireland, TII, has stated: The existing N20 is not designed for the volume of traffic it is now carrying. The annual average daily traffic reached nearly 18,000 in 2025, an increase from 15,000 in 2016. The parish of Mourneabbey, south of the town of Mallow in County Cork, is one of the communities that are dissected by the N20. The majority of the community's facilities in the parish, such as Clyda Rovers GAA club, Mourneabbey Community Centre and the local crèche are located on the western side of the N20, while a significant proportion of the local community live in the Burnfort area, on the eastern side of the road. Local councillor Liam Madden, who raised the issue with me recently, was interviewed on RTÉ Radio 1's "Drivetime". He highlighted the dangers faced by local residents multiple times each day in crossing the road. He described the road as having traffic volumes similar to those of a motorway but without any of the safety infrastructure, such as overpasses or underpasses, that we would associate with our motorways. We are told we have a hierarchy of road users in an effort to protect the most vulnerable when it comes to road design and safety provisions. At the top of this hierarchy we are supposed to give priority to pedestrians, who have no protection whatsoever in the event of a collision. Then come cyclists, horse riders and motorcyclists. Below these we have car and van drivers, who have the protection of their vehicles in the unfortunate event of a collision, and finally bus and lorry drivers. According to an article by Geraldine Herbert in the Irish Independent in May 2024, "The purpose of the hierarchy of road users is to give greater protection to pedestrians and cyclists and to highlight that those who can do most harm have the greatest responsibility to reduce risk to other road users." As traffic volumes have increased on the N20, it seems insufficient consideration is being given to the hierarchy of road users and to the needs of pedestrians and local residents in relation to their own safety. The difficulty with the Mourneabbey junction compared with places like Rathduff, New Twopothouse and Buttevant, which are also on the N20, is there is no town or small village in the parish directly on the road that would require a lower speed limit to be observed and make an intervention such as a pedestrian crossing or other traffic calming measures viable options. We are all well aware of the progress being made between the Department of Transport, TII, Limerick City and County Council and Cork County Council on the delivery of the M20 Cork-Limerick motorway, but even the most optimistic forecasts indicate that delivery will not happen for at least nine or ten years. I am also aware of the ongoing contact between Cork County Council and TII on the more immediate concerns and the possibility of an intervention prior to the delivery of the M20, even if it is temporary in nature, to make the road safer for the local community. This is what Councillor Madden and community groups in the Mourneabbey area are looking for, but for these talks to result in a positive outcome a commitment to enable a solution to be delivered is needed. I sincerely hope such a provision can be made either directly in budget 2027 or through TII to deliver safer road infrastructure for the community of Mourneabbey. --- Source: Houses of the Oireachtas. Licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). The Official Report is revised after first publication; the fetch timestamp below identifies the version quoted. Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2026-04-29/debate/main Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:52+00:00 Sitting date: 2026-04-29