A total of €804,000 was allocated to the N5 bypass project by the NRA as part of their €3m allocation for roads in Longford in 2010.

There had been fears expressed at council level that if funding was not acquired by February 19 this year, which is the 18 month deadline to go to notice to treat stage, the entire process would have been back to square one, and would have probably taken years to bring it to fruition.

However, now that funding has been granted to Longford Co Council, public representatives have confidently predicted the N5 project is now all but guaranteed to become a reality in the coming years.

First of those was Deputy Peter Kelly, who said he expected the project to be completed inside "three to four years".

"The next stage is notice to treat, and that will bring it up to the next stage, which will be to put it to tender. This stage (notice to treat) could take up to a year to a year and a half. They have the route picked and this stage will sort out getting the land into the name of the County Council so that they can go to tender," said Deputy Kelly.

"I expect it to become a reality. There is a big demand for this bypass and it will be of big benefit to Longford and to the west of Ireland. I have no doubt that Longford Co Council, who have done Trojan work up to now with the NRA, will make this bypass a reality," he added.

Mr Tom Murtagh, senior engineer, Longford Co Council welcomed the announcement of funding, which he said will allow the local authority to "proceed to the next very important stage".

Cllr Alan Mitchell, who raised the issue on an ongoing basis at council meetings - including the prospect of the deadline looming - said there is another campaign now to get the necessary funding to go to tender. He said Roscommon and Mayo public representatives should support the progress of the bypass.

Co Mayor, Cllr Peggy Nolan, said, "It's giving the oxygen to Longford; it's a crucial part of infrastructure. It's a good news day for Longford and I can now see light at the end of the tunnel for a county that has been left short-footed for so long."

Cllr Paul Connell said, "Michael Casey of the NRA said that the Longford case was very well presented. The total funding will be p15m (for the N5 Bypass) which is not an enormous amount of money in (the) NRA."

See details of the 2010 roads allocation on page 7.