Council to write second letter to Minister for Transport - Donegal News

DONEGAL County Council will write a second letter calling on the Minister for Transport to visit Letterkenny.

Minister Darragh O’Brien has previously been asked by Cllr Gerry McMonagle to make the journey to Donegal’s largest town to witness traffic issues and ongoing road network projects.

The Sinn Féin councillor previously brought a motion to write to Minister O’Brien to a Letterkenny-Milford Municipal District (MD) meeting.

They had an in-person meeting towards the end of last year, with the Minister then expressing interest in visiting.

However, Cllr McMonagle recently confirmed to the Donegal News that the most recent correspondence from the Department stated that the Minister is not available to visit Letterkenny at this time.

This prompted Cllr McMonagle to bring a renewed motion to the Letterkenny-Milford MD meeting today.

He called for a meeting with Minister O’Brien to “discuss the funding and need for major road projects in Letterkenny to be expedited to help with the development of Letterkenny as an area of Economical Regional Development and to help alleviate the chronic traffic issues the town faces on a daily basis.”

Cllr McMonagle said he had a “good conversation” with Minister O’Brien last year, with the Minister pointing to a possible meeting in January 2026.

“We’re sitting here in July and he still hasn’t arrived,” said Cllr McMonagle today.

“Things haven’t changed, they’re getting worse. His input is very important with the number of road projects we have.”

Cllr McMonagle acknowledged progress on the Northern Relief Road (Windyhall Road) but said he had “not heard much” on the Southern Relief Road (Leck Road) or the Trans-European Transport Network Priority Route Improvement Project (TEN-T).

He said that these projects, as well as a ring road and a bridge over the River Swilly are all needed to combat traffic in Letterkenny.

Fianna Fáil Cllr Ciaran Brogan said there had been a “fair bit of engagement” from Minister O’Brien, as well as Minister for Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation, Jack Chambers and Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, James Browne, on the TEN-T.

Cllr Brogan stated that the “biggest issue” for Letterkenny’s traffic is Active Travel works, which are ongoing across the town.

“I’m embarrassed and I’m glad we didn’t support it,” he said.

However, Cllr McMonagle replied that it was “absolute nonsense” to blame Active Travel for increased traffic.

“We had traffic problems long before Active Travel and we’ll have them long after if we don’t get the necessary roads,” he said.

Both councillors agreed that the Town Bus Service, which has ceased operating, would help alleviate traffic if reinstated.

At almost €1 billion, the TEN-T is the the biggest infrastructure project in Donegal’s history.

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