Cllr Adrian Henchy has welcomed the opening of the Donabate Distributor Road. “While it was a very positive occasion on Wednesday afternoon to finally have the official opening of the new Donabate Distributor Road by my colleague Councillor Eoghan O’Brien it was tinged a little bit with disappointment that due to Covid 19 restrictions this very special occasion could only have in attendance the Mayor, Fingal County Council Chief Executive AnnMarie Farrelly and the Director of Planning and Strategic Infrastructure Matthew McAleese. There are still a number of outstanding works and improvements on the road to be carried out and these will be addressed in the coming months with the easing of the Covid 19 restrictions.This new road was a key pillar of both the Donabate Local Area Plan which was adapted by Fingal County Council in 2016 and the County Development Plan Objectives 2017 for Donabate Portrane. Both my colleague on the peninsula Cllr Mulville and I on behalf of our local community campaigned and fought hard over the last six years for this long overdue but vital piece of critical infrastructure within the council chamber and this work received broad political support from all parties and independents.

This new road which includes a new bridge crossing Dublin Belfast train line will create better access to parts of Donabate including Balcarrick, Corballis and all of Portrane which includes the St Ita’s Hospital Campus and the new National Forensic Mental Hospital which became operational during the pandemic and will continue to gradually open over the coming months as it relocates its services from Dundrum to Portrane.My thanks to our local community for the extraordinary patience and understanding as we lived through the building and significant disruptions of this major infrastructural project in tandem with the building of the new National Forensic Mental Hospital over the last 3 years. While the new road is very important and a positive development this will only be true as long as the other serious issues like; Coastal Erosion and Flooding Transport , the current road and footpath network , Policing , Tourism & Heritage and Sport & recreation are also addressed in order to ensure that Donabate and Portrane continue to be a great place to live work, visit and raise a family.