THE CLARION call for investment in roads in Newcastle West is an annual one after ever increasingly harsh winters.
However, as the blue skies set in over West Limerick this month, local representatives were finally able to get out and assess the damage to the N21 and the arterial roads throughout the town. They insist that subsidence on their roads has gotten progressively worse this year, after weeks of persistent heavy rainfall in early 2026.
Councillors now want to see an audit carried out by Limerick City and County Council to deal with the “decimated” road infrastructure.
Independent councillor Jerome Scanlan requested a full survey of arterial roads within Newcastle West to be carried out. He takes the view that every road throughout the market town has major issues.
Cllr Scanlan told Council management at their February area meeting that he believes West Limerick is not getting “our fair share” in funding to deal with the issues on their roads.
Last week, Cllr Scanlan invited the Limerick Post to visit the bustling county town, in the heart of the Golden Vale, to see the condition of the roads. I travelled shotgun with the Newcastle West representative as we traversed the national and arterial roads to see how bad the potholes really are.
“I think the roads need investing in, this is the big issue now,” Cllr Scanlan tells me as we set off from the Áras William Smith O Brien, the municipal district HQ.
As we head off out the N21 on the Tralee Road, he suggests that the potholes and subsidence on the roads around Newcastle West is particularly bad this year. And the lack of funding, isn’t helping matters.
“Our roads budget was raped, for want of a better way of putting it. Look – you can feel the potholes on the road, look again, another one. It’s not just on the N21, it’s all over the place. You can feel the collapsing infrastructure as you drive the roads around Newcastle West,” he said.
“You can feel it in the car, look again, it’s all over the place,” he warns as we head out this national route between Limerick and Kerry.
It’s clear to see from the patch up work on the roads, the Council is doing its very best, a loaves and fishes of sorts, with the funding allocated to them from TII.
“Look, there’s three potholes just here,” Cllr Scanlan signals, before turning back towards Newcastle West.
The area representative is quick to praise the Council for the patching it has done to improve matters on the N21 but suggests that Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII) provide more funding to improve the road surface as a matter of urgency.
“In fairness, to the Council, they’ve done a lot. There’s a patch here, there’s another there. It’s like a patchwork quilt but TII need to provide funding to do the N21. It’s critical that it’s done and done correctly. We’re talking about the county town, and in advance of the Ryder Cup, all this work needs to be done. This road badly needs renewal because people are going to travel long distance to get to the event.”
‘The longer they live it, the bigger job that’s needed’
As we make our way towards Maiden Street in the heart of this busy West Limerick town, popular with tourists for its historical Desmond Castle landmark, Cllr Scanlan tells me that the potholes are the blight of local business people.
“They’re complaining bitterly about it. The potholes are doing damage to cars, and this is the main artery, the entire section needs resurfacing,” he opines.
The damage to the road surface on Maiden Street is substantial, with evidence of dirty water splashed onto the fronts of local businesses from puddles on the roadside.
“There’s a massive problem here,” Cllr Scanlan as we pull into a loading bay to assess the damage on Maiden Street.
“The heavy rain is washing the tar away, but the problem is, we’re only stitching up the problem, rather than doing a proper job. All that stitching is adding cost all the time. It has gotten progressively worse here in the last month or two, but it’s been a problem for the last year now,” he insists.
“Maiden Street is the main artery through the town. If you want to come from the north side of the town, you have to come down here. We don’t have a distributor road around the town, so the traffic is a problem. The volume of traffic is a big issue. This road wasn’t made to become a main thoroughfare.
“The longer they leave it, the bigger job that’s needed. You can see all the patchwork, it’s not a good look coming through the town from Kerry. It indicates dilapidation or lack of interest in the place, and that’s been one of the issues since we became a unitary authority, that we’re not having the investment out the county that’s required.”
Cllr Scanlan suggests the Council is “working on a shoestring” and doing its very best with the resources available.
“We get a contribution from national government, but the Council have to put funding towards it as well, from the rates, but it is insufficient. We need more funding and we need a distributor road, desperately.”
He confesses to having no confidence that he will ever see a distributor road in Newcastle West. No progress, he feels, has been made on the matter, since it was first put on the table in 2007.
“The strange thing is we have a senior minister at the cabinet table, so I would expect results. We need the TII to see it as a priority. They see the bypass as a priority, but this will not solve the problems to the south of the town, where there’s 1,000 householders,” he said.
If we can’t get the potholes right, we’re at nothing
At our last stop in Market Yard, where Cllr Scanlan stands over a pothole as our photographer takes some snaps, I speak to one local motorist who has plenty to say about the state of the roads.
Rolling down her car window, she says: “There’s a big hole up there outside the hairdressers, they’re all over the town. You are trying to avoid them as you are going to the shops. Something needs to be done.”
“Potholes are quite basic, if we can’t get them right, we’re at nothing,” Cllr Scanlan replies.
“Get the funding for the N21, and give the right impression for the Ryder Cup. Then renew the arterial streets within the town. There’s money being spent hand over fist in the east of the county, so the county town must be looked after. We’re not seen as a priority out here.”
At last month’s Newcastle West area meeting, senior executive engineer for the district, Ben Noonan explained that while the Council waited for funding to arrive, it was preparing a roadworks scheme that would see roads rated in terms of condition.
“It is all planned in terms of investigating the roads with the most need. That’s how it operates,” he commented.
– Local Democracy Reporting Scheme