FROM THE ARCHIVES/MARCH 22nd, 1895:Delays in infrastructural projects are nothing new in Ireland if this report from question time in the House of Lords in 1895 is anything to go by. The Earl of Mayo, Dermot Bourke, later a Free State senator, asked the government chief whip about the delays in opening the 25-mile railway, which eventually ran until the late 1940s, from Stranolar to Glenties in Co Donegal.
THE EARL of Mayo said that with regard to the question standing on the paper in his name, he wished to ask the Government when the railway between Stranolar and Glenties would be finished and opened for traffic? The railway was 25 miles long, and had already occupied four years in construction. An extension of time for the completion of the line had been granted no fewer than three times. The contractors had said that the line was completed in every part and he wished, therefore, to ask why it had not been opened? One of the reasons why the line had been delayed was that the contractors were nearly the only owners of the Lough Swilly line, and it was their interest not to open a line or not to proceed as quickly as possible with the one which would divert traffic from the Lough Swilly line.
He had also heard it stated that the contractors proposed bringing an action against the Board of Works for £20,000 for extra works that had been done, but which were not in the contracts. The whole of the satisfactory postal arrangements for the northwest of Donegal were in abeyance in consequence of the line not been opened.
He asked the same question last session, but the contractors said that if the railway was completed by the end of August it would be satisfactory. He hoped the Government would use every possible means in their power to get this line opened, as it would be the greatest benefit to that part of Ireland.
Lord Ribblesdale : “The railway between Stranolar and Glenties, Co Donegal, appears to be now finished. The usual notice for the inspection of the line has been received by the Board of Trade.
“The inspection will take place next week, and the inspecting officer will then report whether the line can be forthwith opened for passenger traffic. Even assuming that it should be necessary as a result of the inspection to postpone the opening for passenger traffic, goods traffic might be conveyed if the junction at Stranolar is passed by the inspecting officer. I have no information about the Lough Swilly Railway, or about the action for £20,000 which has been brought.”
The Earl of Mayo: “It was a report.”
Lord Ribblesdale: “As to the delay, I quite admit it, but there have been extenuating circumstances. The history of the railway is one of extensions which have all been duly authorised in the proper way on account of the circumstances which seemed to warrant those extensions.
“It is quite true that the line is a short one, and has taken the best part of four years to complete. State assistance was required and a free grant of £116,000 was assigned to the undertaking, which was then assigned to the Finn Valley Railway, who were to get the line completed before November, 1892. Then we come to an amalgamation between the Finn Valley and the West Donegal Railways. Then there were more delays due to bad weather and to the very high prices for labour, and the period was further extended to January 1894. The delays have also been largely due to the inclement winters, wet summers, and workmen’s strikes. Her Majesty’s government are most anxious to see the railway opened.”
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