The chairman of the National Roads Authority, Mr Liam Connellan, has resigned. Mr Connellan, who is the current president of the Institution of Engineers and on the board of a number of private sector utility companies, has informed the Minister for the Environment, Mr Dempsey, that he wishes to devote more time to his private sector interests.
Mr Connellan, during whose tenure the authority's budget rose from £150 million in 1994 to about £750 million last year, told The Irish Times the authority was "in good shape".
He defended the authority's decision to build new motorways instead of improving existing roads, and was confident the "quiet majority" of people in the regions supported the contribution motorways made to development.
