Local Authority: Carlow County Council
Issue: Road building project
In the history of epic local authority blunders, a disastrous road-building project by Carlow County Council stands apart.
The Carlow Eastern Relief Road project first hit the headlines in a case in 2007, when the High Court heard that the council had ordered the project's building company to construct part of the road on land that the council did not own.
RTÉ News reported that the court was told that the company was awarded the contract for the project, which involved a relief road of around 1.5 km. It was initially expected to be completed by August 2008 for €5.5m.
According to the RTÉ News report, the company was on budget and ahead of schedule to complete the project when it hit a snag: it discovered that the final 35m stretch was on land that the council did not own.
This discovery led to the company taking a legal case against the council on various grounds, including breach of contract.
The High Court’s Mr Justice Peter Kelly described the matter as "extraordinary".
The project was not completed on schedule, and it became known locally as the "Road to Nowhere".
The 2008 Local Government Audit of Carlow County Council stated that the case was referred to mediation in February 2008 and later settled for €11.3m.
The county manager told the auditor that the project was "extremely litigious, complex and demanding, both on human and financial resources within the Carlow Local authorities over the last three-year period".
The manager also said that, "regretfully, there have been financial implications… which had not been envisaged and could not have been foreseen in the context of risk assessment".
The road was more recently referenced in the 2020 Local Government Audit of the council.
This stated that council-issued credits funded a "significant portion" of the road’s construction costs, which are offset against future development contribution fees the company would be charged when granted planning permission. The audit stated those credits amounted to €8.5m and that, at the end of 2020, €736,000 had been drawn down.
Earlier this year, RTÉ Investigates submitted a request under the Freedom of Information Act to the council, seeking a breakdown of the latest costs associated with this project, in terms of construction costs, legal fees, and interest payments servicing any loans taken out to fund the project.
We also requested a copy of any review of the project.
Remarkably, 15 years after the original High Court case, the saga is far from over.
In refusing our request, the council stated: "The Carlow Eastern Relief Road and related matters are the subject of High Court proceedings… which are ongoing and actively being litigated."
It referred to two separate cases taken by the company, one initiated in 2014 and 2017.
The council declined to explain the background to the specific cases and why there continued to be litigation concerning this project, when the road itself had been completed many years ago.
However, in its 2020 audit of the council, the Local Government Auditor noted that "there have been several mediation meetings held between the interested parties in 2020 and 2021 without resolution".
Meanwhile, Carlow County Councillor John Cassin (Ind) has also been trying to get details concerning the project’s costs, including the council’s loan to fund the project. But he has had minimal success, with the council also telling him that it is precluded from discussing the project – even with its councillors – because of the ongoing litigation.
The council recently told RTÉ Investigates that it was not in a position to comment at this time because of the on-going litigation.
