Latest Updates
— All-Island (NI + ROI)
UPDATED
Northern Ireland
A29 Cookstown Bypass: DfI approved the Outline Business Case on 13 Oct at £100.1m, up from about £70m (DfI, 27 Oct 2026). The A4 Enniskillen Bypass cannot start until a High Court challenge to its procurement is resolved; DfI puts the cost at £56m (ITV News, 29 Oct 2026). The UK Budget cuts NI capital by £117m over four years (Department of Finance, 28 Oct 2026).
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Republic of Ireland
N6 Galway City Ring Road: the last judicial reviews were withdrawn after mediation on 2 Nov, clearing the way for work to start early next year (Department of Transport; Irish Times, 2 Nov 2026). DART+ West: the first major enabling works ran from 30 Oct to 2 Nov (NTA, 28 Oct 2026). The National Children’s Hospital still has no handover date (Irish Examiner, 27 Oct 2026).
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Northern Ireland — DrumcreeDrumcree stand-off: the parade was banned on 9 Oct 2026 after 13 days. Justice Minister Naomi Long told the Assembly the policing cost is now estimated at £5.5m (19 Oct 2026). See the NI dashboard.→
Northern Ireland — A5 ruling, 6 Oct 2026A5 Western Transport Corridor: the Court of Appeal in Belfast today allowed DfI’s appeal on all grounds, lifting the legal block on the first phase (ITV News; Irish Times; Belfast Live, 6 Oct 2026). The Alternative A5 Alliance can still seek permission to appeal to the UK Supreme Court; no application has been reported. Cost of delay: had it gone ahead as planned in 2012 (completion 2018), the approved business case was £799m (£975m at 2017 prices); it is now £2.1bn (DfI, Oct 2024) — roughly £1.1bn–£1.3bn more to be borne, plus £192.5m already spent with no road built (NIAO 2019; DfI, Sep 2026). For the families of the more than 50 people killed on the A5 since 2006 (ITV News; BBC), it is a day when their prayers were in some way answered — CPD hopes no further lives are lost while the scheme moves forward, with Climate Change Act compliance remaining an important factor. No construction start date yet.→
In memory of the 58 people who have lost their lives on the A5 since 2007 (Donegal News, 3 Nov 2026) — A5 Enough is Enough
Northern Ireland — Ballykinlar GAA hub — tenders returned, Nov 2026Down GAA’s Ballykinlar Centre of Participation, Wellbeing and Shared Learning Hub, Co. Down. Funding: the PEACEPLUS grant is quoted in euros (€15,383,951, SEUPB), and the council (£0.5m) and Down GAA (£2m) contributions are in sterling. That gives a funding package of about £15.4m at the Nov 2024 ECB rate. Main-contractor procurement began in Feb 2026. Down GAA’s timeline targets contractor appointment and construction start in Q4 2026 and completion in Q2 2028, “subject to change” (Down GAA). Contractors’ tenders have now been returned and evaluation is under way, according to industry sources. Down GAA has not yet confirmed this publicly, and no contractor has been named. What to expect, as general QS guidance and not a Down GAA timetable: once tenders are returned, quality assessment typically takes about 6 weeks and price assessment a further 2 weeks. That means roughly 8 weeks before any public announcement, which points to around late December 2026 to early January 2027.→
Construction costs — 10-year check, 2016 to 2026Has building nearly doubled in cost in ten years? In Ireland, almost: commercial tender prices rose 83% from the first half of 2016 to the first half of 2026 (SCSI Tender Price Index, Aug 2026). In Great Britain the rise is closer to half than double: prices paid for new construction work rose 47% from June 2016 to June 2026 — housing 55%, infrastructure 44%, public buildings 41% (ONS construction output price indices, Aug 2026). Building materials rose faster, 68% from the 2016 average to August 2026 (DBT, provisional), against 42% for general prices over the same ten years (ONS CPI). No official Northern Ireland-only price index exists: NISRA price-adjusts NI construction output using these ONS indices because “regional OPIs are not available” (NISRA construction methodology report, Dec 2025). Construction has outpaced general inflation, so every year a scheme drifts it is re-priced in a dearer market.Non-official comparison — not an official statisticRider Levett Bucknall, a private consultancy, forecasts Northern Ireland tender prices to rise 3% in 2026 and 3.25% a year in 2027, 2028 and 2029 — about 13% over the four years if compounded (CPD calculation). RLB names labour as “the most significant driver of construction inflation” in NI. This is a commercial forecast, not a measured 10-year change (RLB Construction Market Intelligence, Northern Ireland, Q3 2026).
🌍All jurisdictionsOpen the British Isles & Australia hub for updates across all seven jurisdictions, the separate per-currency overrun clocks and the reconciliation panel.→
