An Taisce The National Trust for Ireland has today stated that “The refusal of the Slane N2 bypass by An Bord Pleanála is an eminently logical decision and has protected a very important piece of Irish National Heritage”

In its decision An Bord Pleanála found that it was located in the ‘view’ of the Brú na Bóinne, which is a very important part of Irish National Heritage, a source of major tourism revenue and a UNESCO World Heritage site. The Board stated that the road’s development would be acceptable only where it had been demonstrated that no appropriate alternative is available.

The Board found that alternatives to a bypass have not been adequately explored, and further that building another new motorway when there are already two existing northbound motorways in Meath - the M1 and the M3 - would "undermine public investment in the existing strategic road network". The Board also found that the proposal would do nothing to "alleviate east–west traffic movements".

An Taisce has always been aware of the safety of the people of Slane and believe that there is no reason why any truck should pass through Slane. An Taisce supports further public safety measures in Slane and commends the 30km/h speed limit put in place by Meath County Council.

An Taisce has called for many years for a thorough truck ban in Slane combined with the removal of tolls for trucks at Drogheda. This must be implemented and enforced now.

An Taisce Ends

For further commentary/clarification please contact:

John Ducie, Properties Officer, An Taisce The National Trust for Ireland, 01 7077076

Ian Lumley, Heritage Officer, An Taisce The National Trust for Ireland, 01 7077064

Notes:

There is precedent in that trucks are not charged to use the Dublin Port Tunnel at any time of the day. There is a requirement to make payments to the operator of the Drogheda bypass under the existing contract. However, payments can be made by counting the number of trucks passing through the toll gates without paying money - a practice known as shadow tolling.

There are a number of ways to finance shadow tolling including the reform of the taxation of heavy goods vehicles and/or additional revenues from diesel. An Taisce is working on proposals for its reform of and will be submitting a document to Ministers Hogan and Varadkar in the coming weeks.