Shoppers who frequent the thriving Damolly Retail Park and Fiveways service station in Newry will know the frustration… once you’re in, it’s not always easy getting out!
The issue has been taken forward by elected Aontú representative for Newry and Armagh, Róisín Mulgrew who has now announced an escalation of the party’s campaign to tackle the longstanding traffic congestion in the area.
The party is putting up posters around Fiveways, engaging with motorists, residents, businesses and other stakeholders, and has formally requested meetings with Infrastructure Minister Liz Kimmins and the owners of Damolly Retail Park.
Mulgrew said: “We have been campaigning on this issue for months because anyone who regularly travels through Fiveways or tries to get out of Damolly knows how frustrating it can be.
“Now we are stepping that campaign up. Posters are going up, we are taking the issue directly to the public, and I have formally requested meetings with both Infrastructure Minister Liz Kimmins and the owners of Damolly Retail Park.
“We want action and we want solutions on the table.
“We have called for traffic-management measures around the existing Damolly exit to be properly assessed and for the feasibility of an additional exit onto Carnbane Way to be explored.
“But none of this is new. Five and a half years ago, Liz Kimmins herself was calling for this problem to be sorted. In May 2021, she said she was engaging with the owners of Damolly Retail Park and DfI to find a solution. A month later, in the Assembly, she said something needed to be done ‘urgently’.
“That was 2021. It is now 2026. Liz Kimmins is no longer a backbench MLA calling on an SDLP Infrastructure Minister to act. She is the Infrastructure Minister and has been for more than two and a half years. Yet motorists are still sitting in the same queues.
“Liz was right in 2021 – action was needed urgently. Five and a half years later, people are entitled to ask what happened to that urgency.
“I have asked Minister Kimmins and the relevant DfI officials to meet with me to establish what has been done, what options are available and, most importantly, what happens next.
“I have also requested a meeting with the owners of Damolly Retail Park to discuss what they can do, including when an additional access point onto Carnbane Way can be progressed. I then want the relevant parties around the same table to agree the way forward.
“We are also taking this campaign directly to the people who deal with this traffic every day. We want to hear from motorists, residents and businesses about their experience and what they believe needs to change.
“Five Ways has been talked about for long enough. We don't need more people highlighting the problem. We need the people with the power to fix it to start delivering solutions.
“Aontú will keep fighting until that happens.”
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