A meeting of the East Cavan Roads Committee of Cavan County Council has been called to consider a report from Mr J. Quigley, L.G. Engineer, on the occasion of his recent tour. In his report Mr Quigley states:
"The roads are bad; with possibly one or two counties excepted, they are, I believe, the worst in Ireland. There is not a single mile, save a mile or two at Virginia, where a motor car can be run at normal speed, without risking broken springs.
"The usual road there is a continuous succession of deep potholes, filled with water, along which there is a heavier traffic of motor cars and motor lorries than one would expect in such an inland county, remote from large towns. The motor traffic is evidently heavier than in such counties as Clare and Roscommon.
"The Cavan roads were never good. They are now being reduced to an utterly impassable condition by the ever-increasing motor traffic. I interviewed each Assistant Surveyor in the presence of the County Surveyor, and to each I put the question: `Why are the roads so bad?' The reply in every case was that sufficient money had not been available for adequate upkeep.
"To my mind that is not at all a complete explanation. Compared with other counties Cavan has increased its road expenditure quite as much as the average. From the condition of the roads, from the reports published in the local paper for some years past, I am convinced that a totally inadequate return in road upkeep has been given for the expenditure for a long period."
Mr Quigley recommended the County Surveyor be given a year to improve matters and, if there was no satisfactory improvement, that some arrangement should be come to "whereby the Cavan people will be free to try another County Surveyor."