In response to an Assembly Question asked by SDLP Justin McNulty MLA, Minister for Infrastructure Liz Kimmins has released data showing where potholes are worst across the North. The data plainly shows Armagh, Banbridge, and Craigavon as the clear frontrunner for potholes, with 3,977 potholes being reported there from 2025 to present. Newry, Mourne and Down comes 2nd with a whopping 2,304 reported potholes in that time period.
McNulty has called upon Minister Kimmins to take action to address these potholes by sending the Department of Infrastructure a letter with 300 locations of potholes reported by people across Newry and Armagh. Speaking in the Assembly, McNulty highlighted the dire state of pothole disrepair.
Mr. McNulty stated:
“My office is inundated with calls from constituents who are fed up and furious at the state of our roads. They speak of burst tyres, cracked alloys, broken suspensions – people are paying the price for governmental neglect. They describe roads that resemble the surface of the moon, crater after crater, potholes within potholes, temporary fixes that break up after the first heavy rain or touch of frost.
“Last Wednesday, I posted on social media asking people to comment where the dangerous potholes are across the area. By the next morning, there were over 500 comments identifying more than 300 separate locations across Newry and Armagh. Three hundred hazards. Three hundred daily risks. That is not anecdotal frustration, that is overwhelming evidence of systematic and systemic failure.
“This issue is one of public safety. It is about the mother driving her children to school, the shift worker commuting before dawn, the farmer transporting livestock, the cyclist navigating traffic. Every one of them deserves roads that are safe and fit for purpose.
“Road maintenance is not a luxury. It is a core function of government. When potholes are left to multiply, when repairs are cosmetic rather than structural, when communities are told to be patient year after year, trust in public services erodes. People rightly ask: where are our taxes going?
“I have written to the Minister detailing each pothole location submitted to my office. It is farcical for a Republican Infrastructure Minister to deflect blame indefinitely on the British government while our roads continue to crumble beneath us. Something must be done urgently to make our roads easier and safer to navigate.
“Motorists, cyclists, pedestrians do not want any more excuses from the Minister or her party. They do not wait any more photographs or potholes mapped with new technology. There want the Minister to take responsibility and to send someone out with a tin of yellow paint and a pile of tar to fill the potholes.”
ENDS
CLANRYE NEWS 