There have been calls to improve footpaths across the Borough after an Armagh woman needed hospital treatment after falling in the city recently.
The woman took a tumble at Duke’s Grove on the Cathedral Road and was injured badly enough to need treatment in hospital.
Businesses in Armagh have also complained about street surfaces with certain parts of the Shambles left almost unusable for weeks.
SDLP MLA Justin McNulty says the issue is severe enough to warrant immediate action by the Department of Infrastructure.
“Over recent weeks I have been contacted by quite a number of people regarding the state of many footpaths in our cities, towns and villages,” explained Mr McNulty.
“In many incidents we have seen Environmental Improvement Schemes completed in the larger urban centres, many of which have been spearheaded by local councils. However, beyond those core areas of our town centres, footpaths have deteriorated into a particularly bad state.
“I fear that whist there has been much attention on the state of our roads, footpaths have been completely forgotten about. ”
He added: “Just this week, I have yet again had to pass through details of another incident where a local lady fell and injured herself. This lady unfortunately ended up in hospital and regrettably this is happening far too often.
“Every day I am contacted about the condition of many roads and footpaths, both in urban and rural areas. This is completely unacceptable, we need to see a comprehensive investment package in repairs and resurfacing of roads and footpaths.
“It is not good enough to get a burst of work towards the end of the financial year and then nothing happens for the next nine months.
“We need to see real investment in continuous repairs and maintenance, because the longer roads and footpaths are left without repair and maintenance, their condition deteriorates and therefore end up costing more to repair in the long run.”
