Niall McCracken
BBC News NI mid-Ulster reporter

Justice McAlinden has left the door open for the construction of a new A5 road in the future.

He says “the shortcomings and shortcuts" highlighted in his judgment are "capable of being remedied".

"The relevant ministers, departments and officials should redouble their efforts to deal with these shortcomings and that may involve the finalisation of a Climate Action Plan which is long overdue," he says.

The judge adds that "concerted efforts" must be made to do this so that "a new and safer A5 dual carriageway" can be built and and "the long list of names of those who have perished on that road will not be added to".

The Enough is Enough group tell reporters they are still to speak to most of the families involved in their campaign for a safer A5 but intend to convey the details of the judgement to them "over the course of the day".

"Obviously we'll look at the finer detail of the decision and make a public statement after that," says the group's chair Niall McKenna.

Mr McKenna remains confident the project will proceed in the future.

"The conclusion of the judgement today states that very clearly that the scheme will have major societal benefits and that there is a roadmap in place for it to go ahead," he adds.

Niall McKenna, chair of the Enough is Enough campaign group tells reporters: "We're obviously disappointed with the decision this morning.

"I think the judgement itself narrates it most appropriately when it says that he [the judge] admits that it will lead to more anguish among the families. We believe that to be quite correct."

Mr McKenna adds: "We find it ironic that the law is there to serve and to protect the people, it is there to serve and protect society and the judgement acknowledges that this scheme will have major societal benefits.

"So it seems ironic to go against the societal benefits. The law should be there to serve and protect us, not to work against us."

But he adds there were "some positives" in the judgement.

"It does provide a clear and unambiguous roadmap for the scheme to go ahead and we hope that that will happen very quickly."

Solicitor Ciaran O'Hare, representing campaign group the Alternative A5 Alliance, says today is a "remarkable day" and applauds the "tenacity" of the group.

"Their sustained efforts have been vindicated in court today," he says.

He adds that it is also an important day for the environment.

Mr O'Hare says the Alternative A5 Alliance has "never disregarded the safety concerns concerning the current A5 road" and has always argued it should be upgraded "to minimise the adverse affects on the environment and our land".

"This is a very detailed judgement and I will have to take time with my legal team to consider the detail within that," Infrastructure Minister Liz Kimmins tells reporters outside the court.

"However, I'm determined that we will deliver a safer A5 that will protect lives and we will not be giving up in relation to that."

Kimmins also pays tribute to people from the Enough is Enough campaign whom she says have been "steadfast in their commitment in ensuring that this road is delivered to protect lives".

Speaking outside the court, the Infrastructure Minister Liz Kimmins says: "Obviously this is an extremely disappointing day."

She says she wants to pay tribute to "all the families who have lost loved ones on the A5".

"No doubt this will be heartbreaking for each and every one of them but their campaign will hopefully not go unnoticed and I think the judge today has paid tribute to that."

Following the delivery of the lengthy judgment which has thrown the A5 upgrade into doubt, we're expecting to hear some reaction from the main players on both sides of the legal challenge.

Infrastructure Minister Liz Kimmins is expected to speak to the media outside the court and we hope to bring footage of that live at the top of this page.

We're also hoping to hear from farmers and landowners from the Alternative A5 Alliance (AA5A) group who brought the latest sucessful challenge against the government.

Niall McCracken
BBC News NI mid-Ulster reporter

Justice McAlinden says he is aware that this decision will bring "significant, fresh anguish to the doors of those who have been injured and maimed and those who have lost loved ones" on the A5 road.

"It is likely that delays in the progression of this scheme will coincide with the occurrence of further loss of life and serious injury on the existing road," the judge says.

But he adds that "the decision to proceed with the scheme must be taken in accordance with the law".

"The principle of the rule of law cannot be subverted, even if the motivation for doing so is to achieve what is deemed to constitute a clear societal benefit."

Niall McCracken
BBC News NI mid-Ulster reporter

Commenting on the wider issue of targets around Northern Ireland’s Climate Action Plan (CAP), Justice McAlinden says “there is no specific mention of the proposed new road or its potential impact on climate change objectives".

"Yet it would appear that overall, Northern Ireland may have difficulty staying within the first carbon budget that has now been set,” he adds.

Niall McCracken
BBC News NI Mid-Ulster reporter

Justice McAlinden says the Department for Infrastructure’s plans didn’t comply with climate change targets set down by Northern Ireland ministers at Stormont.

In his judgment, he says that there had been an “inadequacy of information for the purpose of lawful decision making” and that this was one of the reasons that the decision made by DFI for the road to go ahead “cannot stand.”

The judge delivered a lengthy judgment containing 299 paragraphs in 97 pages.

A high court judge has ruled against the A5 road project - the future of the £1.7bn scheme is now in doubt.

Catherine Doyle
BBC News NI

Image source, Getty Images

The Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) has taken a keen interest in the A5 issue.

The Enough is Enough campaign group was launched at the Tyrone GAA Centre in Garvaghey in January 2023. A number of victims of road crashes on the A5, such as Killyclogher GAA player John Rafferty, have been GAA members.

Niall McKenna, the Enough is Enough chairman and a fellow Killyclogher member, formed the group following Mr Rafferty's death - he described the road as a "death trap" that is "killing our membership".

The GAA's interest goes right to the top of the organisation, with President Jarlath Burns (pictured above) attending a Court of Appeal hearing on the issue earlier this year.

He described the A5 as a "human rights issue".

The High Court judge has been speaking for close to two hours at this point, outlining his lengthy judgement that will dictate what happens next for the A5.

We don't know exactly when he'll be finished, but when he has read his judgement in full, we'll be able to bring you his verdict.

It's been 18 years of planning, legal challenges, public inquiries and impassioned debate about the upgrading one of Northern Ireland's major roads.

Here's a run down of the key dates in the A5 saga:

2007: A5 upgrade is officially proposed - it would bring the mostly single-carriage major route, linking the island's north west to Dublin, up to a dual carriageway.

2011: A first public inquiry is held into the project, after 2,000 objections are lodged.

2012: Then Stormont Roads Minister Danny Kennedy gives the go-ahead for the scheme. The Alternative A5 Alliance (AA5A) group lodges a legal challenge.

2013: A High Court judge quashes Stormont's decision to proceed with the road, upholding an argument by AA5A lawyers that the planned new route breached habitat directives

2017: A second public inquiry into the road finds that it should proceed in the wider public interest. The Department of Infrastructure announces work will begin on the Newbuildings to Strabane section the next year.

2018: A judge quashes the department's decision once again after a second legal challenge. On this occasion, the Department of Infrastructure withdraws its defence. AA5A lawyers argued the decision was unlawful as it was not taken by a Stormont minister but a department permanent secretary as Northern Ireland's power-sharing government had collapsed.

2020: A third public inquiry begins.

2024: Stormont ministers give a third green light to the road scheme. Infrastructure Minister John O'Dowd says work would begin in early 2025 and be completed on a phased basis. The AA5A group launches a third legal challenge in response.

Image source, PA Media

Many families and friends of those killed and injured have campaigned for a new, modernised road to improve public safety along the route.

The lobby group A5 – Enough Is Enough was set up to demand progress on the construction of a new carriageway after years of delays to the project.

The group was formed in the aftermath of the death of 21-year-old John Rafferty from Killyclogher, County Tyrone.

He died after the car he was driving crashed with a tractor on the Curr Road section of the A5 in October 2022.

Mr Rafferty was a talented Gaelic football player who had represented County Tyrone at Under-20 level.

Less than a year earlier, three other young GAA members died in a crash on the A5 just a short distance from the Tyrone GAA Centre at Garvaghey.

In January 2023, the group held its launch in the GAA centre and said there was "standing-room only in the auditorium" and the crowd spilled over into the foyer.

They said it was an "incredibly emotional night for all in attendance".

Much of the opposition to the A5 project has come from farmers and landowners who face having land that has been in their families' ownership for generations vested by the government.

In October 2024, the Ulster Farmers' Union (UFU) hosted a meeting about the A5 that was attended by more than 150 farmers, landowners and local politicians.

The UFU said at the time that a large number of landowners along the A5 "fully accept" the need for a new road but added it wanted them to be properly compensated during the compulsory purchase process.

“This is about fair treatment and the protection of rights," said UFU deputy president John McLenaghan at the time.

"We are not out to delay the road. We recognise it is vital to tackle its road safety record."

He said the UFU would work on behalf of all landowners to ensure their rights were upheld.

The UFU is the largest union representing farmers in Northern Ireland, but there is a smaller group of farmers who have consistently voiced their opposition to the new A5 dual carriageway.

The Alternative A5 Alliance (AA5A) group, which has brought a number of successful legal challenges against the route, said the UFU statement did not reflect its members' views.

It's a lengthy verdict - about 97 pages long, all being read out by the judge - with the judgement not expected until the end, but we'll let you know the decision when we have it.

The total cost of the cross-border project is estimated to be in the region of £1.7bn.

The Northern Ireland Executive committed "about £1.2bn" when the final plan was announced by ministers late last year.

A further €600m (£500m) is being funded by the Irish government as the A5 runs to the border and is part of the main arterial route from Dublin to the north west of Ireland.

The Irish government had originally pledged to support the project to the tune of £400m but Ireland was badly hit by the world economic downturn in 2007/08 and it temporarily withdrew its offer in 2011.

In February 2024, Stormont's Infrastructure Minister John O’Dowd confirmed the Irish goverment had recommitted its financial support for the A5, external with an increased offer of €600m.

In June last year, Stormont's infrastructure committee was told the A5 project has already cost £110m even though construction work was yet to begin at that stage.

For families who have lost a loved one on the A5, today's long-awaited decision is more than a story about a road.

Angela O'Neill's mother was hit by a car on the A5 in January 2018. She told BBC News NI that "when you get that phone call to say you've lost a loved one, and that knock on the door comes from the police, it's absolutely devastating".

“My father was coming 80 years of age when he got that phone call and it was extremely traumatic for him and extremely traumatic for my brother to drive over the road knowing that their wife and mother was on the roadside."

For Angela and many others, including first responders, the A5 is a story of trauma. BBC News NI's Mid Ulster reporter Niall McCracken took an in-depth look at the debate surrounding the road by those most directly affected - you can read more here.

Road network researcher Wesley Johnston argues the length of a road should be taken into account when making crash fatality comparisons.

He has worked out that between 2012 and 2024, the A5 had the highest death rate per kilometre compared to any other road in Northern Ireland.

Using his own records and fact-checking against police figures, he counted 37 fatalities between 2012 and 2024, equivalent to 0.44 deaths per kilometre on the A5.

Some stretches of the road are also more dangerous than others, as the Omagh to Ballygawley section had the highest number of fatalities - 17 over the same period.

Research also shows that more than 1,200 people were injured in collisions on the A5 in the last 10 years, some with life-changing consequences.

Driver error is the most common cause of fatal road traffic accidents on the A5, but it is also the most common cause of fatal accidents on the majority of roads across Northern Ireland.