A new bypass which is intended to ease the daily traffic problems in Ennis, Co Clare, has made millionaires of seven farmers.
Figures released under the Freedom of Information Act show that Clare County Council paid a total of €22 million to 67 landowners to acquire 500 acres of land along the route. Seven farmers received over €1 million each.
One farmer received €3.7 million for 17.5 acres, while another received €2.1 million for 16.5 acres.
Two other farmers received between €1.5 million and €2 million, while three others received between €1 million and €1.5 million.
In all the seven new 'millionaires' received €12.1 million in total from the council.
The Minister for Transport, Mr Brennan, yesterday turned the first sod on the €190 million scheme, which is expected to be complete in three years' time.
The Minister said that the 21-km bypass will remove 14,000 vehicles from Ennis town on the day of opening, rising to 35,000 in 20 years' time.
Mr Brennan said the scheme "will hand the town back to its people and allow it to thrive and expand in a proper environment. The road is long overdue."
Mr Paddy Pyne of Clare IFA said that "some farmers have come out of the process okay".
However, Mr Pyne added: "Having land compulsory purchased is never good for farmers. They have a love for the land. It has been a lot of aggravation for some, but all recognise the need for the Ennis bypass."
Yesterday's sod-turning ceremony comes after a two-year delay in giving the project the formal green-light due to lack of Government funding - the Compulsory Purchase Order (CPO) for the scheme was confirmed in July 2001. The scheme itself forms a 14-km eastern bypass of Ennis along with a 7-km western relief road to the south and west of the town.
A Turkish-Austrian joint venture, Gama Strabag, beat off bids from Irish rivals earlier this year for the contract, allowing the overall project be costed at €190 million - €15 million less than the price tag put on the scheme by Mr Brennan last November.
At yesterday's ceremony, Minister Brennan announced that another major road project on the western corridor, the 25-km Crusheen/Gort bypass, is being progressed and the Environment Impact Statement and Compulsory Purchase Order documentation will be completed by the third quarter of 2004.
Mr Brennan said the Ennis scheme will complement schemes recently completed on the N18, including the Hurlers Cross/N19 Shannon access and the Newmarket-on-Fergus bypass.
"We are entering a particularly exciting era for road building in Ireland," Mr Brennan said, adding that a combination of favourable factors "means we can deliver major roads projects faster, within budget and, in most cases, ahead of schedule".
