Mayo bridge that was 'the width of the table' cost €440,000 to repair
Cllr Gerry Coyle said the bridge was "the width of the table".
An annual budget of €880,000 to repair and maintain bridges around Mayo is insufficient, a Westport councillor has stated.
Cllr John O’Malley told last week's meeting of Westport-Belmullet Municipal District that a very important bridge in Louisburgh was due to be repaired but instead “the money was used to repair a bridge in Belmullet that broke down and cost €440,000 to repair”.
“So it seems there is only money for bridges that have already broken down. The full budget for Mayo for the year is €880k and there are ones that are very dangerous and there is no money to do them up and no emergency funding either. The only thing that can be done then is to close the road but that is not always feasible.
"These kind of dangerous bridges are all over the place and not enough central funding is being allocated and somebody is going to lose their life.”
Cllr Gerry Coyle commented that the bridge in Belmullet was only “the width of the table and if that is the true costs of the repairs then I think I will be out building bridges".
