Fermanagh roads being left behind by Department

THERE is less money being spent on Fermanagh roads than on those in any other part of the North, it has been confirmed.
A Fermanagh and Omagh District Council report has highlighted the local area received the lowest expenditure for road maintenance by the Department of Infrastructure (DfI) in the North in recent years.
The Council has now called on DfI to ensure there is equity in its roads spending.
The report stated, “Across the seven‐year period from 2016/17 to 2022/23, the total roads expenditure per kilometre in FO averaged £5,750 (the lowest of any Local Government District).
“In 2022/23 the expenditure per km was £10,372 across NI and in Fermanagh and Omagh there was only £5,937 per km spent.
The report contextualises the funding issue, “Fermanagh and Omagh is home to 116,994 people and has the longest Local Government District network at 3,992 km, representing 15 per-cent of Northern Ireland’s road length.
“This extensive network includes 1,333 km of B and C class roads and 2,348 km of U‐class roads (unclassified roads), the largest absolute length of unclassified roads in NI.”
The council plans to write to the DfI with proposals to strengthen the delivery of the Draft Road Maintenance Strategy and ensure rural equity.
Throughout 2025 Fermanagh and Omagh district reported nearly 10,000 potholes on local roads.
At the same time three-quarters (7,836) of reported potholes were filled in.
Jack McCubbin, a local Enniskillen youth politician, said that underfunding could lead to potential dangers on the road.
“I know personally a lot of people from Fermanagh have mentioned to me that Road Markings is also a very important issue, and with that we see another causation for road traffic collisions which could turn fatal,” he said.
“For instance the Derrylin Road has a lot of poorly painted parts of the road, which has been taken into account within the DfI as a possibility for recent collisions along the road.
“If Fermanagh and Omagh continues to see a deficit in funding, more smaller issues like road markings or signage disappearing and thus leading to more potential dangers.
“Not only that but without money available for Collision site remedial works we could see road traffic collision hot spots continue to suffer.”
He added, “I’d like to take this moment as well to praise local politicians from all parties for their work in helping to make Fermanagh and Omagh a safer place for all on our roads.
“Even if it’s just getting the DfI contractors out to fill a hole in the road.”