When will we know what route the Farranfore Killarney bypass will take?

In a recent meeting, they said the newest delay led to numerous phone calls from angry constituents.

Cllr Brendan Cronin said the hold-up left a ‘sour taste’.

He said that the issue arose because the media reported that the preferred route was to be announced and that a public consultation meeting would take place on this matter in late November or early December. This was subsequently postponed, with no preferred route announced. This led to dismay from the public, who want to know if they will be affected by the selected route.

Cllr Marie Moloney said councillors “don’t know from one day to the other what is happening”.

Cllr John O’Donoghue and Cllr Niall ‘Botty’ O’Callaghan also said they are receiving calls every day about the issue and added that it is vital that the route is selected.

“It is relentless,” said Cllr O’Donoghue, adding that the matter was on a recent Spa GAA meeting agenda as one of the routes could impact the club.

In November, Road Engineer Paul Curry gave an update on the project at the Killarney Municipal meeting and said he was hopeful that Kerry County Council would be given the go-ahead to announce the preferred emerging route in November.

It is now expected that the preferred route will not be announced until the first quarter of 2023, and councillors in Killarney are to write to Transport Infrastructure Ireland to express their disappointment at the delay and the handling of same.

Mr Curry said that, at the November meeting in Rathmore, he should have ‘caveated’ that the project was still in a ‘state of flux’.

He added that the situation is out of his control.

“It faces more challenges now than in November. We are doing our level best to overcome the impasse,” he said.