Craters and crumbling roads are now putting motorists in danger.

EMERGENCY funding is needed to repair West Cork’s roads network which has been ravaged by potholes, it’s been claimed.

On Monday councillors called on Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII) and the Department of Transport to tackle the craters and crumbling roads as a matter of urgency.

Public outrage over roads from Schull to Ballydehob and Skibbereen, the bypass in Clonakilty, Timoleague, Ballylickey and other areas led councillors to make the demand at Monday’s Western Division meeting.

‘These are not potholes any more, they are craters,’ said Cllr Danny Collins (Ind Ire). He said he hit two massive potholes which ‘rattled the car’ and he understood ‘a lot of claims are going in to the council for tyres’.

Residents have also highlighted the perilous state of the roads with Margaret McCarthy standing in a hole on the road leading to Reen Pier in Union Hall to illustrate its depth.

‘I put my foot in thinking only my foot was going to go down but it went all the way down to mid-thigh, so I put the second leg in just to let people see how deep it is. It’s crazy,’ Margaret said when describing the 70cm chasm.

‘You can see it is after going in under the road, which means the weight of any heavy vehicle is going to bring that down.’

Locals who deemed the hole a serious hazard to motorists and pedestrians covered it with a fish box at the weekend.

Cllr Daniel Sexton (Ind Ire) alerted The Southern Star to the road surface outside Deasy’s car park in Clonakilty which is so eroded you can see the underlay of the road. The day he was photographed at the pothole he said he witnessed drivers veering onto the wrong side of the road to avoid it.

‘The photograph doesn’t do it justice,’ he added, ‘because if you are there looking at it, you can see that it is a foot deep in some places.’

A ‘monster’ pothole on the Ballydehob to Skibbereen road blew out a tyre on at least one vehicle, leading motorist Jason Ward to post a warning online.

‘Be careful out there everyone, there are some nasty holes on the N71 into Ballydehob from Skibbereen and out of the village towards Bantry.

‘This monster is just past the L84651. It knocked out a tyre on our car and looks like it might take out a motorcyclist. It has been reported to the County Council but it is not the only hole around.’

Motorists in Baltimore and Drimoleague have also bemoaned the state of the roads which appear to be breaking up as a result of surface water bursting tarmac in freezing conditions.

At Monday’s Western Division council meeting Cllr Danny Collins said patching and repairing potholes was a false economy because it was ‘borrowing from Peter to pay Paul’. Cllr Joe Carroll (FF) noted €7 million was released following Storm Babet in 2022 for road resurfacing and drainage work in West Cork.

Cllr John Michael Foley (FG) said surface water had so badly rutted the road at Skeaf East, Clogagh, north of Timoleague, that there was a stream running down the middle of the road. He said the problem was lack of drainage and tarmac would not solve it.

Cllr Sexton said people are furious. Referring to the Clonakilty stretch of road he added: ‘The cut of it is absolutely ridiculous. Our national roads are in a diabolical condition.’

He said a strong delegation went to Dublin to lobby for funding for Cork county’s roads but came back empty-handed.

‘We feel forgotten about. We need greenways, but fix our roads first because our roads are getting worse and worse. It’s not only frustrating for us when people phone us, it is embarrassing,’ he said.

Cllr Carroll suggested a mobile crew be deployed to carry out drainage works on a monthly rotation covering all of West Cork’s towns and villages.

The council’s divisional manager Michael Lynch said the local authority spends a significant amount of money every year on the local and regional road network.

Admitting heavy rainfall had had an impact he said the council would consult the director of roads about what course of action to take.

A spokesperson for Cork County Council stated: ‘The recent spell of inclement weather consisting of a mixture of freezing temperatures and persistent rain falling on already saturated ground and high water tables has resulted in a large increase in the number of potholes emerging on roads throughout the region.

‘Cork County Council crews are actively attending to these.’