Louth's Yore calls for sackings as road fatalities continue to rise
Louth Independent Councillor Maeve Yore has called out the “non-prioritisation of road safety and rising fatalities” across the country and has called for “all Ministers responsible to resign or be sacked”
Independent Councillor Maeve Yore has slammed what she called the “non-prioritisation of road safety and rising fatalities” in Louth and across the country, and called for “all Ministers responsible to resign or be sacked”, while highlighting a list of requests she has made to relevant Ministers and their Departments, as well as State Agencies, which she says would help reduce road deaths in Louth.
Cllr Yore told the Dundalk Democrat that she has been left “frustrated” at what she said is a “lack of urgency, ownership and action by successive Government Minister's /Departments/State Agencies”, on the “non-prioritisation of road safety and rising fatalities”, and said that they are “wasting taxpayers' money by piece meal road infrastructure upgrades across the country whilst people die on our roads”.
The Dundalk South representative said: “Families impacted by road tragedies deserve a government that treats safe infrastructure as a non-negotiable priority, rather than under/part funding local and national roads and if this was happening in private sector, they would be sacked.”
Cllr Yore continued, saying that the “Louth Monaghan Cavan Division are leading the way with fatalities, along with Tipperary Clare nationally, and as I said at our recent Road Safety Working Together meeting with Department of Transport and RSA representatives, national current strategy is not effective and we need to treat this as an emergency - 151 families are grieving loved ones lost on Irish roads and we all need to show them we care and we are working collectively to stop this carnage.”
The Independent Councillor said she contacted all relevant Minister/Departments and Agencies on 3 July 2026, requesting the following :
- Fixed Speed cameras on the N33 Ardee to M1 Motorway has been identified as a prime location and other blackspot locations across Louth
- More unmarked vehicles cars and motorbikes for enforcement - 50% of vehicles should be unmarked
- More Roads Policing personnel - according to Cllr Yore, five years ago Dundalk had 10 Roads Policing personnel and Drogheda had 12, but in the last two years this has reduced to twelve in total across the County
- Funding to complete the N2 Ardee to Castleblayney & N2/A5NW Road Projects
With regards the N2 Ardee to Castleblayney & N2/A5NW road projects, Cllr Yore said that Louth County Council with Monaghan County Council as the lead partner commenced the design process in 2018 , and that €5 million has been spent to date.
Cllr Yore said that the “delay to the project is unacceptable and worrying” and that works already done may need to be repeated at additional cost and with additional delay, and that l”andowners are left with uncertainty, and road safety remains a huge concern”.
According to Cllr Yore, from 2005 - 2019, data shows 19 fatal collisions have occurred, and that on the N2 alone since 2020 to date, there has been another nine fatalities, including five young people losing their lives only a few months ago.
She said that TIl on several occasions have confirmed their commitment to N2/Castleblayney and N2/A5 - (N2A2C) Projects, but it has not however, provided “any certainty of timeframe etc”
“It has been almost 3.5 years since any work was done in relation to the road scheme”, Cllr Yore added, and that “some of the environmental work done may be out of date, procurement rules changed, tenders need updating, costs rising.
“Despite numerous meetings with numerous Ministers highlighting the urgency, no funding /commitment or timelines were provided while people still lose their lives across the County.”
Cllr Yore said she pleaded for immediate action, seeking more unmarked /fleet vehicles/motorbikes, personnel, enforcement and capital funding and road upgrades to “stop the carnage” in the Louth Division.
The Louth councillor said she was “so disappointed with lack of replies - only Jim O’Callaghan’s Private Secretary replied in July and follow up emails to Gardai/Commissioner and Dept of Transport resulted in ‘passing the buck’ replies from both, on 16th Sept and Fri 23rd October”, which Cllr Yore added “is deeply worrying and frustrating”.