Call for tourism promotion budget for towns and villages affected by new N5 bypass

Roscommon County Council has been urged to put together an adequate budget for tourist information and marketing for towns and villages which will be bypassed when the new N5 Ballaghaderreen-Scramogue road is completed.

Tabling a motion at a recent council meeting, Independent councillor Tom Crosby called for the council to put in place an adequate budget for tourist information and marketing from Tarmonbarry to Ballaghaderreen to include marketing, digital information and road signage to highlight the many historical and tourist attractions on this section of the N5 national primary road.

Cllr Crosby highlighted attractions such as the River Shannon, the National Famine Museum, Strokestown Park House, Rathcroghan, Percy French’s birthplace and the Douglas Hyde Centre.

He believed this promotion was urgent and essential for towns and villages that will be by-passed in order to reduce the severe economic impact of the new N5 road.

Cllr Crosby said that as members were aware, the bypass was now underway and would bypass Strokestown, Tulsk, Ballingare, and Frenchpark. He noted Ballaghaderreen was already bypassed.

“This bypass will have a huge negative impact on those towns and villages. I know that my belief is shared throughout the villages and towns along the route that something needs to be done to address the economic downturn that will happen in these towns and villages,” he said.

He said everything necessary needed to be done to divert people who would be going to and from the West of Ireland onto the old N5, and “to do our very best to support the town and villages and local businesses on the route”.

“It is critical because in three or four years time, the bypass will be complete and as result, it is important to put this in place and not leave it until the eleventh hour.” Acting Director of Services Greg O’Donnell said the first set of signs, the directional signs, would be there to direct people to any of the towns that are bypassed. Mr O’Donnell explained that the number of tourism signs depended on the number of visitors to respective places.

“It is usually based on the numbers that use those amenities over a year - it qualifies them for a brown sign on a national route,” he said.

Mr O’Donnell pointed out that there was already a package of approximately forty signs as part of the N5 project, which includes many of the attractions referred to by Cllr Crosby. He said the signage required, directional and tourism signs, were well covered in the road project.

Council Leas Cathaoirleach Cllr John Cummins said that the other issues raised by Cllr Crosby could be considered as the new road progressed.

A formal written reply from council explained that the provision of signs including tourist signs on national roads was governed by TII policy.

In respect of the Ballaghaderreen-Scramogue road project, the approved signs package includes the provision of brown tourist signs, 34 of which are proposed as part of the project.