Fermanagh and South Tyrone UUP Assembly candidate Kenny Donaldson has said that the current A5 master road plan "threatens the future sustainability of the many rural communities to which it affects."

In a statement Mr Donaldson confirmed that he was "totally opposed to the Scheme" stating that "there is no clear evidence of need argument in place" and that the commitment to press ahead was purely a "political decision," the roots of which may be traced back to the failed St Andrews negotiations.

Mr Donaldson continued: "I have spoken to many of the affected landowners within the Aughnacloy and Ballygawley areas, local traders and civic-based groups and I am getting an overwhelming sense that there is little local support in these areas for the Scheme.

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"People are angry at what they see as a policy without foundation being imposed upon them.

"Few would argue against the A5 needing significant improvements both in terms of safety and from a traffic flow perspective but there exists the basis of a road (which incidentally has already been heavily invested in) for these improvements to be carried out a mere fraction of the cost likely to be associated with the current so-called mater plan."

"To go ahead with what is currently being proposed would lead to the desecration of farmland and would deliver ghost towns to Aughnacloy and Ballygawley."

"Ironically the saving grace in all of this may be the realities, which the Republic of Ireland Government are currently grappling with. That economy is in freefall mode and is being propped up at the behest of the IMF and to a lesser extent; the United Kingdom. I would call on the R.O.I administration to publicly withdraw its' interest in a Roads Scheme, which bares all the hallmarks of a "hair-brained and ill-conceived idea.

(GK)