REPORT BY DAN WALSH AT ROSE FITZGERALD KENNEDY BRIDGE, NEW ROSS; VIDEO OF THIS HISTORIC EVENT BY FINBAR FLANAGAN WILL BE POSTED SHORTLY.

An Taoiseach, Leo Varadkar joined Rose Katherine Kennedy Townsend at the official opening ceremony of the N25 New Ross 15km Bypass Project incorporating the 887-metre Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Bridge this afternoon.

An Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said: “This new bypass will transform New Ross, Wexford, Kilkenny and the South-East by reducing congestion and travel-times, improving road safety, and opening up economic opportunities and make a huge difference for commuters, for families, for businesses and for tourists.” 

Speaking at the event great-grandchild of Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy, Rose Katherine Kennedy Townsend said; “This bridge is a wonderful tribute to my great grandmother, and a symbol of her enduring love and lesson that it doesn’t matter who you are, where you come from, we are all God’s children. When some leaders threaten to drive us apart, we need to honour those who build bridges that bring us together.”

Cathaoirleach of Wexford County Council Cllr Michael Sheehan said the new road network will enable the redevelopment of the region, unleash potential and rejuvenate New Ross. “I would like to congratulate all of the people involved in every aspect of today’s project on a job well done.

Chairman of Kilkenny County Council, Cllr Peter Cleere said; “The Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy bridge itself is an engineering wonder. It will attract visitors both nationally and internationally just to admire its presence and the engineering skills that it has taken to design and build. I would like to congratulate everyone that has been involved in making this project happen.”

BAM CEO Theo Cullinane said the firm was proud to have funded and delivered another vital piece of infrastructure for the State. “It is fantastic to see the N25 New Ross Bypass opened today. This is a crucial piece of infrastructure for the South East Region and it will have an immediate, tangible impact on the local community, who will enjoy reduced travel times and increased accessibility. The N25 is a strategic national route that carries both tourist and commercial traffic between Cork and Rosslare, and it will improve connectivity across Munster and Leinster.”

“The Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Bridge has generated a lot of excitement in the area. It is a bold, innovative piece of construction and I am certain it is set to become an iconic part of the landscape of Ireland. BAM has spent more than 60 years shaping the face of Ireland and this project is no exception,” stated Mr Cullinane, who added that Public Private Partnership is now a proven model driving real benefits for the State. The N25 New Ross Bypass is the sixth Irish PPP motorway project BAM has been awarded and its completion will bring the total to almost 700 kilometres of national primary route under BAM management.

Wexford County Council Chief Executive, Tom Enright said, “The N25 New Ross Bypass is another vital link in the overall connectivity and safer access to and from the South East region, to and from County Wexford and the town of New Ross in particular. This major infrastructural development will help to attract investment into the Region. The resolution of the chronic traffic congestion in New Ross will result in environmental and quality of life improvements, which will make the historic town a destination of choice.”

The Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Bridge is the longest bridge in Ireland and its two main spans are the longest post-tensioned concrete spans of their type in the world. The bridge crosses the River Barrow between Wexford and Kilkenny and forms a major part of the €230 million investment in the South East region and was delivered within budget.

The N25 New Ross Bypass, combined with the opening of the M11 Gorey to Enniscorthy motorway in July 2019, improves dramatically the overall connectivity and accessibility of Wexford, Kilkenny and the entire South East Region.

The opening ceremony of the N25 and Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Bridge PPP Scheme was officiated by An Taoiseach Leo Varadkar TD and Rose Katherine Kennedy Townsend in the presence of Mr Cormac O’Rourke Chairman TII, Cllr Michael Sheehan Cathaoirleach of Wexford County Council, Cllr Peter Cleere, Chairman of Kilkenny County Council, Cllr John Fleming, Cathaoirleach New Ross Municipal District Council, His Excellency Ambassador Ildefonso Castro of Spain, Ministers Michael D’Arcy, Paul Kehoe and John Paul Phelan, Deputies John Browne, Brendan Howlin and Malcolm Byrne, and the Leadership team of TII, BAM Iridium and Dragados.

The New Ross bypass scheme will be open to traffic at 12 noon on Thursday, January 30^th. It will significantly ease chronic traffic congestion in New Ross town offering time savings of up to 30 minutes. Additionally, it will provide efficiencies on the strategic N25 route from Cork to Rosslare Europort while also supporting the future growth and sustainability of New Ross town and the South East region. The scheme also links the N25 route with the N30 New Ross to Enniscorthy route

The delivery of the N25 New Ross Bypass is the culmination of over 20 years work by Transport Infrastructure Ireland (formerly National Roads Authority), Wexford County Council and Kilkenny County Council as well as technical advisors for the scheme, Mott MacDonald Ireland. Construction works were undertaken by New Ross Joint Venture, consisting of BAM Civil and Dragados. On average, a workforce of 300 people was employed throughout construction and approximately 2.5 million work hours were completed on-site to bring the scheme to fruition.

The 35th president of the United States, John F Kennedy’s ancestors hail from Dunganstown, and the famous Kennedy Homestead is less than one mile from the new bridge. President Kennedy proudly visited his family town of New Ross in the summer of 1963. The late president’s sister, former US ambassador Jean Kennedy Smith suggested the bridge be named after their mother, in memory of the entire extended family.