You can still see the stone walls and the grass is indeed green along the 57km stretch of road, but from today, you'll have to move one letter up the alphabet, because you'll be wishing you were on that M17. The new €550m M17/M18 motorway between Tuam and Gort which opens today has been described as a vital infrastructural improvement. But what does the new road mean for one of Ireland's favourite road-themed tunes? Leo Moran of the Saw Doctors, writers of the iconic song, N17, won't be changing the lyrics to reflect the unsentimental march of progress. "The song is the song," he tells Pat McGrath on Morning Ireland, "and it stands on its own and we won't mess with it." Leo's taking a long-term view of events:
"Maybe the fact that part of the road is gone now will make the song even a bit more historically significant in that it will have recorded what is now not existent."
The new road is intended to future-proof travel in the general west of Ireland region, as well as significantly improving safety for motorists and relieving congestion in towns like Tuam, Claregalway and Clarinbridge. While it's been roundly welcomed by transport companies, there are fears that the road will funnel traffic onto the already-gridlocked streets of Galway city. But the M17 is only one part of a bigger infrastructural jigsaw, one that has yet to be completed. Transport Infrastructure Ireland's project manager on the M17/M18, Obe Mondero, told Pat McGrath about the motorway's place in the planned Atlantic Corridor:
"Hopefully in future when the Galway ring road is completed, it will really complement the operation of the Gort to Tuam motorway."
Back in Tuam, Leo Moran and local songwriter Pádraig Stephens have a message for all road users: stay cool in the traffic.