A5: 'I'd spend a billion pounds to get dad back'

On the evening of 31 August 1995, Stephen Kelly heard a knock at the door of his family home in Londonderry's Carnhill.

What he didn't know as he opened the door, was that his family's lives would be changed forever.

A police officer stood on the other side.

He told the then 24-year-old Stephen: "We think your father has been involved in an accident."

Terence Kelly had been returning from his work as a builder.

The 45-year-old father-of-three was killed instantly when the van he was a passenger in left the road at Bready, on the stretch of the A5 between Strabane and Derry.

Widely known as Terry, Mr Kelly was a well-known figure in the city for his footballing talents.

Most notably, he was captain of Derry City FC when the club entered the League of Ireland in 1985.

His death would mark the beginning of a life-long connection for his son Stephen to what is considered to be one of Northern Ireland's most dangerous stretches of road - the A5.

The A5 is a 58-mile (94km) road linking Derry with Aughnacloy in County Tyrone, near the Irish border, and passes the towns of Omagh and Strabane.

More than 50 people have been killed on the road since 2006.

In one year alone, between October 2021 and October 2022, 10 people died on the A5, according to official figures.

If completed, the A5 dual carriageway would be the largest road scheme in Northern Ireland.

But despite first being announced about 16 years ago, work has not yet started.

In 2020 and 2023, a planning appeals public inquiry heard the arguments for and against the proposals.

Many families spoke out about the impact the loss of loved ones on the A5 have had on their lives.

Twenty-eight years on from his father's death, Mr Kelly is now the Chief Executive of Manufacturing NI.

In December, he gave evidence to the Irish government's joint committee on the implementation of the Good Friday Agreement when the A5 came up for discussion.

Mr Kelly told the committee how his father had lost his life on the road.

Speaking to the BBC's North West Today programme, Mr Kelly, said his dad's accident wasn't something he had planned to talk about.

"I didn't know what the questions were going to be on the A5, and it was just a natural reaction from me to say 'listen, this road is economically essential but actually its more about lives than it is about jobs'.

"I know there is a debate about the cost of the road, debate from landowners and what it could mean for them but what price do you put on a life?" said Mr Kelly.

The most recent estimate for the cost of the A5 project is £1.6bn.

The Irish government said it would contribute £400m to the total cost, but this offer was withdrawn during the recession in 2011.

More recently, Taoiseach (Irish PM) Leo Varadkar indicated that his government would "engage constructively" with the authorities in Northern Ireland and would be willing to provide a greater contribution towards costs than previously pledged.

Mr Kelly said the focus of the debate should be on the loss of life.

"That's the real cost of this," he said.

"If I had a billion pounds to get my father back today, I would spend it. Any one of those families who lost their loves would do the same.

"It's not the cost of the concrete, tarmac and central reservations. It's the cost of the damage the A5 has done to families and communities. That's what we need to be concentrating on."

Mr Kelly described the A5 as a "disgrace".

"There's been carnage on that road for too long now. The completed upgrade will help the economy of the north west and it will bring jobs but if it saves just one life, it will be worth every penny."

The planning appeals public inquiry concluded two weeks of public hearings in June.

Commissioner Gareth Kerr told the final day of the inquiry in Omagh, County Tyrone, that he had faced "an enormous task".

In a statement to BBC News NI, the Department of Infrastructure confirmed it had received the final advisory report on the public inquiry proceedings of 2020 and May/June 2023 from the Planning Appeals Commission on 31 October.

"The Department is currently giving careful consideration to the points raised and detailed recommendations made, before the next steps can be taken."

Stephen Kelly says he wanted to share his story to encourage others to do the same.

"If people have particular experience with the A5, then share it. Make sure the decision makers understand and know the damage it has done to their family.

"That's the real story behind the A5 and the sooner we fix that road, the better," he said.

Niall McKenna is chairperson of Enough is Enough, a group formed to increase the pressure to deliver the upgrade of the A5. He said he would be confident that the work could begin this year.