Belfast appeals court quashes ruling blocking upgrade of A5 road

The Court of Appeal in Belfast has quashed a ruling from a lower court that the delayed €2 billion upgrade of the A5 road cannot proceed in its current form.In a verdict which now clears the way for the scheme, Northern Ireland’s largest ever road project, Judge Siobhan Keegan confirmed previous findings made by the High Court should not stand.“The legal obligations to achieve net zero by 2050 is not a prohibition upon the authorisation for a new road where it has been assessed, as far as possible, to be consistent with emission reduction obligations,” she said.“The fundamental error the judge made was his failure to consider how the decision fitted within climate targets across Northern Ireland as a whole.”READ MOREIn 2024, the Department for Infrastructure (DfI) approved plans to upgrade a 93km stretch of the A5 between Derry and Aughnacloy, Co Tyrone.More than 50 people have been killed on the road since 2006, according to official figures. In June last year, a High Court judge held that the dual carriageway should not go ahead in its planned form.It followed a legal challenge against authorising construction work mounted by an umbrella group of local residents and landowners known as the Alternative A5 Alliance. The alliance claimed the upgrade will have a negative impact on farmland and the environment.Ruling in their favour, Judge McAlinden had identified a failure to demonstrate the scheme would comply with targets set out in the 2022 Climate Change Act. Section 52 of the Act imposes an obligation on Stormont departments to meet carbon emission targets and achieve the overall net-zero goal by 2050.[ ‘vexatious’ complaintsOpens in new window ]He also found flaws in properly showing consideration of human rights issues by not imposing a time limit for construction, and compliance with an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA).Further consultation on methodology for estimating greenhouse gas emissions from induced traffic on the A5 was required before the scheme could go ahead, according to the judge.The project, which forms part of a proposed key cross-Border business route linking Dublin and the north west, has already been held up due to previous legal actions.Infrastructure minister Liz Kimmins appealed the High Court verdict in a bid to ensure the road gets built.Minister at the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs Andrew Muir has also intervened to support her appeal. Lawyers for both departments argued that the High Court’s analysis was flawed.Campaign group Enough is Enough, which represents families of some of those killed on the road, backed the appeal.It argued that rights to life and ensuring public safety must outrank any alleged breach of privacy.The court was told more than 50 people who lost their lives could still be alive if plans to upgrade the road had not been held up.Those circumstances were described as a “haunting reality” for the victims’ families.The campaign body, formed after Tyrone Gaelic footballer John Rafferty (21), was killed on the A5 in October 2022, urged appeal judges to ensure that a potentially life-saving development is not stalled.