With the commencement of roadworks on the N71 (main West Cork – Cork City road) on the eastern side of Clonakilty town, a surge in the number of vehicles diverting via Shannonvale village was a certainty. With this in mind, the joint NRA / Cork County Council traffic management plan put in place for the duration of the works included the installation of speed bumps in Shannonvale.

The installation of temporary speed bumps was taken by the local residents to be a sign that these would eventually be replaced by permanent speed control bumps/ramps. This assumption was not an unreasonable one, since the installation of the temporary ramps seemed to suggest that the authorities had acknowledged the long-standing local concerns about high speed traffic passing through the village. It seems, however, that this was not the case; upon completion of the N71 upgrade works, the temporary speed bumps were removed in May 2020, with no alternative speed control measures put in place.

The local community are not only disappointed that the roads are now extremely unsafe again, but are confused as to why the authorities seem to no longer think that speeding would be an issue. The roadworks on the N71 would only have increased traffic volume through the village, not the maximum speed of traffic.

The Southern Star have written further on the matter here:
https://www.southernstar.ie/news/speeding-an-issue-again-since-removal-of-ramps-4206726