McCarthy takes Minister on tour of Strangford's worst roads

12.21.00pm BST (GMT +0100) Wed 14th May 2008

Strangford Alliance MLA Kieran McCarthy

Strangford Alliance MLA Kieran McCarthy has taken Regional Development Minister Conor Murphy around the worst roads in Strangford. Mr McCarthy arranged the tour to underline the poor state of some of the roads on the Ards Peninsula. They started their tour at the A20 Portaferry Road outside Newtownards and proceeded to Greyabbey.

Kieran McCarthy MLA stated: "Ards Peninsula has suffered poor roads for too long. I invited the Minister to look at the road surfaces himself and he took me up on the offer.

"Some of the surfaces are in a terrible condition and I feel that this area has been disadvantage for a long time.

"It's not only the road surfaces that need attention from the Minister, footpaths need re-aligned and junctions improved.

"I put a strong case to the Minister and he was left in no doubt about the real need for better roads here. Better roads on the Ards Peninsula would make them much safer and this has to be a priority for the Minister.

"The peninsula is a really picturesque part of the country and if the Executive is serious about maximising tourism then they need to make this area more accessible."

ENDS