A new four-lane road through Sligo town which will cut through existing streets and has been the cause of controversy for more than 20 years, is now expected to be open by April 2003.
Demolition work has started in one of the oldest areas of the town and a number of elderly residents are preparing to leave the houses they have lived in for most of their lives.
A pile of rubble is all that remains of a small row of houses on College Road under the shadow of Sligo cathedral. These had been vacant for some time. They were bought by Sligo Corporation.
But across the road on Upper John Street, and further along the route of the new road on Lord Edward Street, elderly residents are starting the sad task of packing their belongings.
"It's an awful thing to have happened at this time of our lives - we thought we'd be able to end our days here," said 79year-old Mrs Mai McGowan.
"This was one of the nicest streets in the town. We had everything here, the shop beside us and the cathedral, and we had the best of neighbours."
She moved into the house on Upper John Street with her husband 49 years ago. He died just six weeks ago. She shakes her head and holds back tears at the thought of her home being demolished.
But she is quick to point out that she is one of the "lucky" ones because she will be moving to another house further up the street, bought for her by the corporation.
Her neighbour and friend, a woman who has been in her house for 59 years, is moving out of the area to a new estate.
It is accepted by the local authorities that cutting a four-lane highway through this district is a far from ideal solution to Sligo's traffic problems. But officials have always maintained that it was the only viable option.
The new road will take all of the traffic trying to avoid the town centre. The demolition work is the main topic of local conversation. Most of these people know each other for half a century or more. The main complaint is that the road will cut the community in two.
The owners of the local corner shop say they will be left on an "island" between two roads. "It won't be a pretty place to be - there'll be four lanes of traffic beside us.
"A lot of our trade is passing trade and that will be gone," said Michael Langan.
A customer, a man in his 70s, will not be directly affected but repeated the main point of the anti-road campaign - what Sligo needed was a bypass and not a road running through town streets. "The whole way they are doing it is wrong - it is crazy," he said.
Many of the elderly people who have to leave their homes did not wish to give their names.
A woman, who came to her door with a walking stick, said she had to have a cataract operation in a few weeks.
She still didn't know where she would be moving because she wanted a house near the centre of the town but it was very difficult to find one. "I couldn't be standing out in the rain waiting for buses to get into town," she said.
A sworn public inquiry was held in the summer of 1999, with both sides, the local authorities and the anti-road campaigners, arguing their case before an inspector of the Department of the Environment. Last August, the Minister, Mr Dempsey, said the road could go ahead.
Mr Seamus Concannon, director of infrastructure services with Sligo County Council, said construction work on the new road would start in October or November, and he expected it to be completed within 18 months.
He said it would make "a huge difference" to Sligo by taking traffic away from the main streets. The new road would give access to a soon-to-be constructed multi-storey car park.
Mr Concannon said a bypass would also have to be built but that this was unlikely to happen for another seven to 10 years, and no decision had been taken yet as to which side of the town this would go.
He said it was unfortunate that houses had to be demolished. "For the greater good and the strategy of developing the town, it was absolutely necessary," he said.