The West Kerry Roads' Action Group protested outside the Dail and the Department of the Environment yesterday in an effort to highlight the plight of residents living in the region. The group has been campaigning for years for improvements to the N86, the main road between Tralee and Dingle.
Ms Brigid O'Connor, spokeswoman for the group, said Kerry was the fourth-largest county in the Republic but was only 14th in the league for funding allocated to road improvements.
"The Dingle peninsula is one of Ireland's premier tourist destinations, but the condition of the road between Tralee and Dingle is an absolute disgrace and a shameful indictment of the lack of interest shown by successive governments," she said.
"For years we have been asking to have something done about it, but nothing has happened and, when it comes to handing out funds for road improvements, the N86 has been left trailing, as has the entire county of Kerry.
"We were forced to bring our protest to the Dail today in an effort to make the politicians listen, and if they won't listen to us, then we are determined that this protest will go all the way to Europe," Ms O'Connor said.