The construction of a by-pass bridge at Kinnegad, Co Westmeath, has been stopped because of fears that salmon in a nearby river could be affected.
Work began last month on the temporary by-pass which will divert traffic on the Galway road (N6) away from Kinnegad, while plans for a full by-pass incorporating this and the Dublin-Sligo road are prepared.
However, the Inland Fisheries Board has written to Westmeath County Council expressing concern for the salmon in the Kinnegad river and exercising its veto on the construction of the new bridge until the salmon spawning season ends next March or April.
Westmeath County Council confirmed that work on the foundations of the new bridge would require the river to be diverted and pumped dry and that this could not take place until late spring or early summer of 1999.