Journey times between Dublin and Dundalk and farther North will shorten by up to an hour, greatly encouraging North-South co-operation and economic development along the Dublin-Belfast corridor, the Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, said yesterday.
Speaking as he opened the Dublin Airport-Balbriggan section of the M1 motorway, Mr Ahern said the road was long overdue but nevertheless very welcome.
The opening was also attended by the Minister for Transport, Mr Brennan, and a host of local dignitaries.
A message of congratulations was received from the EU Commissioner for Regional Policy, Mr Michel Barnier.
The new 16.3km stretch is the penultimate link in the M1 motorway between Dublin and the Border. It was completed three months ahead of schedule, at a cost of €230 million.
The opening means motorists now have the longest stretch of continuous motorway in the State, from Cloghran to south of Dundalk.
According to Mr Ahern, the completion of this major section of the M1 "clearly demonstrates the Government's commitment to the delivery of Ireland's new motorway network as set out in the National Development Plan."
Motorists will save an estimated 30 minutes at peak times over the 16.3km and as much as an hour on journeys between Dublin and Dundalk.
Traffic volumes on the N1, from Balbriggan to the M1/M50 motorways and at Dublin Airport roundabout, are expected to fall to 60 per cent of current levels.
Mr Barnier's message, which was read out at the opening, recalled that more than €270 million had been invested by the EU in various elements of the M1 over recent years, "clearly demonstrating the European Union's commitment to supporting the development of Ireland's infrastructure in line with national and European priorities".
Mr Brennan said he was particularly pleased that such a major piece of infrastructure had been delivered. "This achievement set an example for current and future road projects," he said.
Mr Peter Malone, chairman of the National Roads Authority, said the provision of this final gap on the M1 motorway to Dundalk would vastly improve road safety levels.
Mr Michael Kennedy, cathaoirleach of Fingal County Council, said long-distance traffic to and from Dublin, Drogheda, Dundalk and Belfast would use the new motorway, removing heavy goods vehicles and 30,000 other vehicles a day from the old N1 and other local roads in Fingal.
"The many immediate benefits to the residents of Rush, Lusk, Skerries, Portrane, Donabate and the general Fingal coastal areas include safer roads for local drivers, pedestrians and cyclists, and a less polluted urban environment, particularly around Swords," he added.
A spokesman for the Irish Road Haulage Association welcomed the opening of the road but insisted that hauliers would continue to leave the motorway at Drogheda and re-enter it north of the Boyne Bridge to avoid the payment of tolls.
Tolls were an unfair tax on hauliers who could not be expected to financially underpin the billions of euro required by the State's road-building programme, he said.
