A new customs post is to be built at Newry to ease traffic congestion on the main cross border route.
Since the Killeen customs post at the border outside Dundalk was bombed in the 1970s, the customs office and several of its building have been spread out along the road,
The 3,500 drivers who use the crossing each week now have to find a place to park and then walk between the offices.
The resulting traffic congestion on the Dundalk road in Newry has long been a source of frustration for motorists who must negotiate queues of parked lorries, and for the lorry drivers,
Who on average spend more than an hour getting clearance when they say it could be done in minutes.
Environment Minister Chris Patten announces a new customs post, and a new by-pass will be built in Newry to ease the traffic bottlenecks on the main cross border route between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland.
The new scheme will tackle the problem by diverting lorries off the main road on the Belfast side of Newry and sending them through a new customs and excise complex to be built near the village of Demolly.
The new complex will bring the clearance agents and the customs office together again on one site with plenty of space for parking.
Chris Patten was at the present customs station which like its predecessor at Killeen has been targeted by bomb attacks.
While security was a concern when the new site was chosen, Chris Patten believes the main benefit of the new facility will be the reduction of traffic congestion in Newry and the positive effect this will have on cross border trade.
An RTÉ News report broadcast on 8 October 1984.
