NIALL Birthistle, chairman of the NorthWest Chambers of Commerce grouping says of the recent announcement of plans to upgrade the Dublin/Derry/Letterkenny roads is "great news."

"This is great news for the NW," he said. "The NW Chambers of Commerce Initiative represents Chambers from across counties Derry, Tyrone and Donegal and has long been lobbying for enhanced infrastructure for the NW. We have several meetings with officials in relation to infrastructure links and met with Minister Brian Cowan in October with a single item agenda - A Motorway from Dublin to the NW."

He continued, "Our constituent Chambers are of the one mind; this is an absolutely essential addition to our infrastructure if the NW is to achieve its full potential. This is a key arterial route for business access and improvements will open up the region for business... etc.

"This is the first crucial step in a long series of actions that will have to be taken forward towards actual implementation and NWCCI will be lobbying both governments to expedite implementation as quickly as possible. Now that the governments have accepted the need for this upgrade, we will want to see it followed through. Economically, it is clear that the NW needs to be connected to the two capital cities on the island and the plans for the provision of motorway connections to Dublin and Belfast will act as a much needed catalyst for development in the region."

The NWCCI chairman concluded by saying that the grouping of Chambers would be monitoring the roll-out following this announcment and would be meeting with officials to find out more about their plans connecting the North West with Dublin.