The West Kerry Roads Action Group would not give up and its determination has paid off. Following an Internet petition, the European Parliament appears to be supporting a campaign that began in February of last year.
The notorious N86 between Tralee and Dingle takes in the villages of Blennerville, Camp, Annascaul and Lispole. It presents every imaginable hazard to motorists and a few that are beyond the imagination.
There are potholes within potholes, bends that would make the hairs stand out on the neck of a Formula One driver, areas where water cascades on to the surface, mini-coastal erosion zones and sometimes wandering animals. Yet west Kerry is a celebrated tourist attraction, one of the best-known in the State. The people of the area had had enough and formed the action group.
They lobbied TDs and MEPs, picketed Kerry County Council and then the Dail and used every opportunity they got to protest against the neglect of their area.
They wanted to know why Kerry, the fourth-largest county in the State, was 14th in the pecking order when it came to the distribution of EU funds through the Exchequer for road improvements.
The group used the Internet to access officials of the European Parliament, and at last things began to happen.
Brigid O'Connor, who chairs the group, did not know much about the European Parliament until she browsed its site on the Internet and came across an organisation with the Parliament known as the Directorate General for Committees and Delegations.
She outlined the group's case in a petition and warned lives would be lost unless something was done about the condition of the N86. Last week, the Directorate made contact to say west Kerry had a case. Officials had been appointed to examine it further and make recommendations.
Of particular interest to the Directorate, Ms O'Connor said, was the claim that the area generally was not getting its fair share of monies allocated through the structural funds for road improvements.
There will be a full committee hearing on the issue in the Parliament in the near future, followed by a decision. Ms O'Connor and her group would like to travel to Brussels for the hearing.
"Basically, I just went on the Internet and saw that we could make a petition as a group. That's what I did and then I got a call from Brussels telling me about the committee hearing. We're all delighted. Finally, we believe, something is going to be done," she added.