Tyrone school pupils send powerful message to minister over A5 road deaths

School pupils from Co Tyrone have pressed Infrastructure Minister John O’Dowd for work to start on an upgrade to a road which has seen scores of deaths.

The young people were from St Ciaran’s College in Ballygawley, which was attended by a teenager who was killed in a crash on the A5 earlier this year.

Kamile Vaicikonyte, 17, and her boyfriend Jamie Moore, 19, died in a single-vehicle crash on the road near Omagh in April. The Year 13 student had attended an event at the school highlighting the death rate on the road the day before losing her own life on the A5. She had signed a petition calling for the upgrade work to begin.

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The school pupils carried over 50 crosses, representing those who have died on the road since 2007, into Parliament Buildings on Thursday morning, and presented them to Infrastructure Minister John O’Dowd.

A scheme to turn the road between Derry and the border at Aughnacloy into a dual carriageway was first approved by the Northern Ireland Executive in 2007 but it has been held up by legal challenges and uncertainty over funding. On Wednesday, Mr O’Dowd told the Stormont Infrastructure Committee that he has recommended to the Executive that work should begin on the project.

“I have submitted the final papers to the Executive. I have to say, it is probably one of the most comprehensive documents submitted to the Executive in recent times,” he told MLAs.

“I’m hoping to get that on to the Executive meeting as soon as possible for decision, and that decision for the Executive is to allow me to make the formal decision to approve the scheme. The Executive now has to make a decision as to whether they are prepared to allow me to make the formal decision to move ahead.”

Speaking in Derry on Thursday, former taoiseach Leo Varadkar said the sooner the work on the A5 began the better.

“This is a road that should have been built 20 years ago,” he said.

“And, you know, Derry and Donegal need to be better connected to the rest of the island and that road is necessary both in terms of transport and economics but also road safety.

“I’m very conscious of the large number of people who’ve lost their lives or been injured on that road. So, I welcome any progress, and I really hope that it can start.”

The Department for Infrastructure has been contacted for comment.

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