23 May 2011
Posted by Miriam O'Neill 
An online pothole petition, launched at the end of March on aaireland.ie has attracted more than 9,500 signatures from Irish motorists countrywide.
“Damaged roads and potholes are causing huge frustration and damage, so we are not surprised that we got such strong response.” Says Director of Policy Conor Faughnan. “Local Authorities are aware of the problem, but despite the allocation of some extra resources for road repairs they are still strapped for cash. That and the effects of the last winter mean that 2011 is the year of the pothole.” While a good geographical spread of signatures make up the petition, the highest responses rates per capita were in counties Wexford, Cork, Meath and Kildare. In an earlier AA Motor Insurance Poll, Wexford motorists ranked second highest in terms of the number who had sustained vehicle damaged following a collision with a pothole since the beginning of 2011.
This week the AA will begin dissemination of all 9,500 signatures, which originate from every county in Ireland, to the appropriate local authorities.
“It’s good news and definitely a step in the right direction that an additional €60 million euros has recently been made available to restore regional and local roads.” Says Faughnan. “But given the scale of the work needed countrywide we are likely to find that it is a long way short of what is needed to do the job right and bring our roads back up to scratch.”
AA Patrols and Car Servicing Technicians continue to report disproportionately high numbers of motorists presenting with pothole damage to their vehicles. “Our Patrols are being called out to AA Members who are at their wits end at this stage.” Says Faughnan. “A classic example of this is motorists who would have recently shelled out hundreds for new tyres only to right one off shortly after as a result of hitting a pothole.”
“We’re now in the height of the summer and that means that more people are out cycling and on motorbikes. With a higher number of vulnerable road users active on our roads, this is an optimum time to bring our petition to Local Authorities and voice the concerns of thousands of Irish road users.”
Ends
Notes to the editor;
Number of signatures per Local Authority that were collected during the AA Pothole Petition between March 28th and May 15th 2011:
| Council | Number of signatures |
| Carlow County Council | 89 |
| Cavan County Council | 118 |
| Clare County Council | 190 |
| Cork City Council | 387 |
| Cork County Council | 1152 |
| Donegal County Council | 239 |
| Dublin City Council | 1011 |
| Dun Laoghaire/Rathdown County Council | 487 |
| Fingal County Council | 716 |
| Galway City Council | 98 |
| Galway County Council | 428 |
| Kerry County Council | 184 |
| Kildare County Council | 615 |
| Kilkenny County Council | 118 |
| Laois County Council | 107 |
| Leitrim County Council | 29 |
| Limerick City Council | 75 |
| Limerick County Council | 157 |
| Longford County Council | 80 |
| Louth County Council | 237 |
| Mayo County Council | 274 |
| Meath County Council | 544 |
| Monaghan County Council | 98 |
| North Tipperary County Council | 147 |
| Offaly County Council | 77 |
| Roscommon County Council | 142 |
| Sligo County Council | 76 |
| South Dublin County Council | 417 |
| South Tipperary County Council | 153 |
| Waterford City Council | 65 |
| Waterford County Council | 156 |
| Westmeath County Council | 131 |
| Wexford County Council | 429 |
| Wicklow County Council | 367 |
| TOTAL | 9593 |
26 Comments
this is great…. however going about filling in holes will not do the job … WHOLE ROADS need to be redone…
what about the contractors working on behalf of ESB and BORD GAIS and NTL and UPC etc etc who make holes all over the place and throw debris into them and walk away.
Surely these guys should not get paid until they have resurfaced the road in a correct manner ???
To save money it should be part of their contract ?
I took a picture of 8 men standing about last weekend looking into a trench being built ( Murphy Contractors) only to be surprised when i went back that way on Monday to find i had to negotiate a string of varying heights on the road
DISGRACEFUL…….
this needs to be addressed ……
Angry and fustrated ….
The secondary roads in particular are a disgrace – no wonder tourism has deminished!
Is there a list of the actual pothole locations available?
Hi Conor
The roads are in an appalling state down here in west cork Skibbereen , Dunmanway , Bantry Drimoleague was in a very bad way until a few week back when they decided to resurface the high street but I never seems to be done right so the job lasts !!!!!, Dunmanway road going into the town from Drimoleague side is just like a rocky road Its a wonder that more people dont just sue the council for damage done to their cars . I would like to know if the county engineer goes out to inspect the state of these roads Dont see the road up in Dublin like they are down here
Best Regards Iris Keohane
I WROTE TO WICKLOW tD’S ABOUT THE NEW SURFACE AT THE NEW BRAY ROUNDABOUT AND THE POOR FINISH TO THE NEW TURNING LANE. i EXPLAINED IF THE SEAL WAS NOT FINISHED PROPERLY (WHICH IT WAS NOT) IT WOULD BREAKDOWN. nOR WE HAVE AT FEAST FIVE POT HOLES AT THE SPOT.
Re all the awful pot holes, the company i work for has a new green friendly system for repairs and all waste is recycled and used for repairs no wastage no dumping and believe it or not two personnel can carry out the works in a transit van all self contained, councils not intrested better to waste money with old systems of repairs that only last a couple of days and 6 crew to do a quater of the repairs in a day, wasting your time and energy we have tried. Oh and the nice part of the equation we are a fraction of the price look on trenchcontrol web site and click on roadfix good luck.
Disgraceful of any local authority to have roads in bad condition, with the price of
tyres and garage prices for repairs.
this needs to be addressed
The road between Ennis road Motors & the greenhill hotel, there is at least a 300 metre split up the middle of the road, A person driving a motor bike of cycling a bike will be killed soon. There was a cyclist killed on the 27/05/2011 a postman on this streach of road lately. & upper shannon street there are two pot holes here over two years. Limerick city council are a joke.
I totally agree with Amanda ….the very same thing happened in our local village on N24 and caused untold damage to local cars….CONTRACTERS AGAIN WITHOUT IMPUNITY IT SEEMS, .the entire RESURFACING job had to be redone again with better success. However, during all this the traffic was down to 1 lane and the misery it caused, words cannot describe it.
Also our local road L3102 (isn’t it great now it can be identified) has some lovely potholes, sorry I rephrase craters, its like being on dodgems trying to avoid them. Our little road is the main diversion road anytime there is an accident and it has ruined the road. When potholes are fixed, even bigger joke…..a small bit of leftover tarmac is thrown in. Not good enough, it has to be properly done….I pay enough car tax. SORT OUT NOW……
Regarding potholes/broken roads,Ihave no understanding as to why DLRCC have bulit yet more ramps/made turning even more difficult on the main street in Dun Laoire.This (waste of )money could be used to resurface the badly broken up Ballybrack village approach AND the rutted/collapsed ramps on Avondale road…these latter are tyre breakers and are causing drivers to dangerously swerve trying to avoid tyre/suspension damage.
Lets all agree not to pay our ‘road’ tax unless the pot holes are fixed
Bord Gais and all other contractors need to do the entire road opening in a unified manner . This has not been consistent in our towns and cities.
A permit system needs to be installed from a certain date so everyone is singing off the one hymn sheet from now on.
Its extremely frustrating for businesses and homeowners alike when they see their town or village ripped open year after year.
hi
i live in bantry and the cycle ras came through this week
a miracle has taken place all the roads the cyclists traveled on. They were repaired and resurfaced
the local people have been treated like second class citizens over the last number of months which i think is scandlous
Hi I live in North Co. Dublin, not far from where Thornton Hall prison is going up. Currently…. the roads are a DISGRACE. Why exactly do we pay road tax? Is it not for the sole purpose of paying for the continuing uppgrades and maintenance of our roads???
Pot holes … everywhere , not just in this area but any adjoining road especially leading to Ashbourne via Robertstown. Its just shocking.
But as much as we might write in and complain …. it takes YEARS before there is any response, and at that its simply filling pot holes and not re surfacing the roads. WHY ?
Furthermore, it is an absolute embarrassment for our tourism transport vehicles (ie), buses and taxis taking passengers on such roads.
I would be happy to sign any petition as this is a pet hate of mine.
Regards,
Debbie.
The quality of the tarmac being sourced needs to be addressed. If the roads were made right in the first place with good quality tarmac the pot holes would be less of an issue. Other countries can do it – and with Irish labour!
edenderry is like a war zone potholes everywhere.
Hope this will HELP!!!!
The definition of “pothole” needs to be extended to disintegrating speed ramps – many constructed over recent years have suffered after last winter, and can cause as many problems/damage as potholes …. admittedly people are likely to be driving more slowly over them considering their purpose!
Cork County Council overlaid a road down at Gortacrue near East Cork Golf Club About 3 weeks ago they used Tar & Chip , they site cleared both sides of the road but
they never filled in the potholes before they tarred & chipped it . This surely is a waste of time & Money .
In north Wexford, Ballyconran lane gets its potholes filled but they reopen in a few weeks. It must make economic sense to resurface it completely once. It hasn’t been resurfaced for about 50 years, when it was originally tarred. I have put off buying a car because I live there. I have already replaced the entire rear suspension on my current car. It’s a shame, because the council have done a great job on part of the R725 Gorey to Carnew road.
I have lost 4 tyres in the last 6 years because of having to drive into potholes in order to avoid oncoming traffic in the Kildare area (Clane & surrounding areas mainly. I can see some of the potholes filled in but badly, too little, too late by then. This is Ireland & it has always been like this. Is it ever going to change?
I was unlucky enought to drive into a pothole in Co Meath and the damage to replace my alloy wheel and tyre cost 350 euros. I took my claim to the small claims court bt the judge informed me that the late C.J. Haughey fail to sign in to law inforcing the Local County Councills to compenstate the motorist. He had no choice but to dismiss my actions against the Council.
Forget the Seanad….. abolish the councils, and replace with commercial board of directors. Staff numbers could be almost halved, and still provide a more efficient and cost effective administration! Would it be a violation of our democratic rights ??…….please see above litney for the benefits of our ‘so called’ democracy and public representation!!
put in a claim to fingal coco re: damage done to my car caused by potholes. received a letter back stating that fingal coco were not responsible for the damage to my car. i phoned them and they informed me that it was the drivers responsibility to make sure they avoided the potholes!!!!! i have the option to appeal and i will. failing this i will be taking this to the ombudsman.
Roscommon Council deny liability for the last two alloy wheels plus tyres ruined in October 2011 and November 2011. Since 2005 we have had to replace 5 wheels and the same number of tyres. The last two were the straw that broke the camels back so I sent them the bills. They say they aren’t responsible and if I decided to take them to court will defend on the grounds of None Feasance. The case is now being dealt with by my solicitor. If they aren’t liable then who the hell is.