Frustrated motorists will stop voting – councillor

SOME frustrated motorists who feel that nothing is being done to fix rural roads have said they will not vote as their voice does not matter.

That’s the claim made by Cllr Michael McBride who has called on Donegal County Council to maintain all its roads to a standard that will allow road users to travel on them safely.

Speaking at the October meeting of Letterkenny-Milford MD, he highlighted a number of issues on a number of roads, including from Glendowan to Meenaroy and also near Coolboy.

In some cases, Coillte is drawing timber and this is adding to the problems on small roads. He noted that recently local farmers “had to go out and make a road passable themselves.”

He continued: “Our responsibility is to maintain the roads. We cannot even maintain the roads we have.”

He wondered if the Council “even do a few hundred yards each year” on the roads that need attention.

Senior Executive Roads Engineer, David McIlwaine pointed out there are 1,200 km of roads in the Letterkenny-Milford MD area, but just one pot of funding.

However, he added that they can discuss which roads they prioritise at a future workshop.