The number: 18 years. That's how long people in Galway have waited for a road around their city, counting from 2008, when planners approved a bypass, according to TheJournal. Five years later that bypass was cancelled after a case at the European Union's top court.

Its replacement is the N6 Galway City Ring Road, and on Monday, 2 November, the last legal challenge to it was withdrawn after mediation. The Department of Transport says this "avoids the need for a full High Court hearing".

This week: we look at how the case ended and why it took 18 years, then at the "critical infrastructure" label and what the road might cost.

The last court case is over

On Monday the Transport Minister, Darragh O'Brien, and Seán Canney, the junior minister for road transport, confirmed that every case against the road has been withdrawn. These were judicial reviews, court cases that ask a judge to check whether a public body made its decision lawfully. They challenged the decision of An Coimisiún Pleanála, the national planning body, which approved the road on 7 April 2026.

The last case was brought by a cycling campaigner. Galway Daily reports that the talks focused on Galway City Council's wider transport work and its plans to improve cycling facilities across the city. Exactly what was agreed hasn't been published.

Lorcan O'Connor runs Transport Infrastructure Ireland, the state body for national roads. He was upbeat, with a caveat: "While there are further steps ahead, today's development brings us much closer to delivering this vital transportation infrastructure project."

According to TheJournal, the project now moves to the pre-tender stage, the paperwork that comes before construction firms are invited to bid for the job.

Why it has taken 18 years

The ring road is Galway's second attempt, after that 2008 bypass. An Bord Pleanála, as the planning board was then called, approved it on 6 December 2021. Three sets of court proceedings followed, and in January 2023 the High Court quashed that approval and sent the application back to the planners.

On 6 December 2023 the planners asked Galway County Council for more information, and the council's reply went in on 14 April 2025. Now renamed An Coimisiún Pleanála, the planning body approved the road again this April. It added conditions and changes to the design. New judicial reviews were then lodged against that decision, and those are the cases that ended on Monday.

In fairness to the objectors, court cases are how residents and campaigners test whether a big scheme followed the rules. The cases against the 2021 approval did get it quashed, after all.

How the Government's "critical infrastructure" label speeds things up

On 24 July 2026 the Government used new powers to name the first nine projects as critical infrastructure. The road was one of three transport schemes on the list, alongside MetroLink in Dublin and the Cork Area Commuter Rail Programme. O'Brien calls it the first road project in the State to get the label.

The Government's own phrase is that these projects "effectively go to the top of the 'queue'". Public bodies have to cut the time they take to grant permits, and run their processes side by side rather than one after another.

The label doesn't make the decisions for them, though, and every project still needs planning approval and the usual licences.

The price is out of date and there's no start date

We'd like to show you the bill, but none of this week's official statements gives a cost, a start date or an opening year.

The most recent official figure we found is €593.33 million, the budget in the scheme's business case. It comes from a 2017 review by the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, filed in the planning case. Nothing newer and official has turned up, though Galway Bay FM reported an estimate of €650 million in May 2021.

We do know which pot the money comes from. In his Budget 2027 statement on 6 October, the public expenditure minister, Jack Chambers, said €4.2 billion from the National Development Plan, Ireland's long-term building programme, will go on transport. He named the Galway road among the major road projects it covers, alongside the Adare Bypass and the M28 Cork to Ringaskiddy road.

That €4.2 billion is also meant for the Cork commuter rail programme, other rail and bus schemes and upkeep of the existing network, so it tells you nothing about Galway's share.

The planning inspector's report describes the road as about 11.9km of dual carriageway plus about 5.6km of single carriageway.

Galway County Council runs the project on behalf of both Galway councils. Galway Daily says the councils are still talking to people along the route about buying their homes, and there's no official count of how many are affected.

What it means for you

Your street. Canney says the road will cut congestion in Galway city centre and make room for better public transport, walking and cycling. Don't expect diggers this winter, though. The contract has to go out to tender first, and nobody has said when that will happen.

If your home is on the route, ask Galway County Council's project team about your own case.

Your taxes. The Budget lists the road among the projects the State's building plan will pay for, so it's your money. Until a current price is published, nobody outside government can say whether it's good value.

The short version

1. The last legal challenge to the N6 Galway City Ring Road was withdrawn on 2 November 2026 after mediation, so there will be no full High Court hearing.

2. The road was approved in April 2026 and named critical infrastructure in July, which means public bodies have to deal with it first.

3. The latest official figure we found, a €593.33 million budget, dates from 2017. There's no start date or opening year yet, and the next step is the pre-tender stage.

What we don't know yet

The price. There's still no up-to-date official cost. We'll look for one when the tender papers appear.

The timetable. Nobody has said when firms will be asked to bid, let alone when work starts or the road opens.

The homes. How many the councils need to buy along the route.

The cycling deal. What, if anything, the councils agreed to end the last case.

We'll keep score.

Next week: we're back in the UK.

Do you drive, cycle or catch the bus around Galway? Reply to this email and tell us what you'd want the road to fix, or leave a comment.

If you know someone in Galway, forward this to them.

The Wire covers UK and Irish infrastructure news every weekday morning, and it's free. You can read our Wire item on Monday's news at gridteamai.com/wire/2026-11-02-objectors-drop-court-challenge-to-galway-ring-road-after-mediation. Our live map shows what's being built near you: gridteamai.com/map-explorer.

Follow the N6 Galway City Ring Road on our map, where we check it at source, at gridteamai.com/projects/p0847-n6-galway-city-ring-road, and every other road scheme we track at gridteamai.com/roads.

See you next week.

Anthony

Sources

1. Department of Transport (gov.ie), "Ministers for Transport and Transport Infrastructure Ireland welcome resolution of Galway City Ring Road Judicial Reviews following successful mediation", 2 November 2026. https://www.gov.ie/en/department-of-transport/press-releases/ministers-for-transport-and-transport-infrastructure-ireland-welcome-resolution-of-galway-city-ring-road-judicial-reviews-following-successful-mediation/

2. Department of Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation (gov.ie), "Government Designates Projects and Programmes as Critical Infrastructure", 24 July 2026. https://www.gov.ie/en/department-of-public-expenditure-infrastructure-public-service-reform-and-digitalisation/press-releases/government-designates-projects-and-programmes-as-critical-infrastructure/

3. Galway County Council, N6 Galway City Ring Road project website, 2023 and 2026 updates, viewed 4 November 2026. https://www.n6galwaycityringroad.ie/

4. An Coimisiún Pleanála, case 318217, decision signed 7 April 2026. https://www.pleanala.ie/en-ie/case/318217

5. Department of Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation (gov.ie), "Statement by Minister Chambers on Budget 2027", 6 October 2026. https://www.gov.ie/en/department-of-public-expenditure-infrastructure-public-service-reform-and-digitalisation/speeches/statement-by-minister-chambers-on-budget-2027/

6. TheJournal.ie, "Final judicial review against Galway ring road project withdrawn after mediation", 2 November 2026 (our sum: 2026 minus 2008 = 18 years). https://www.thejournal.ie/galway-ring-road-judicial-review-withdrawn-7212703-Nov2026/

7. Galway Daily, "Judicial review of N6 Galway City Ring Road withdrawn", 3 November 2026. https://www.galwaydaily.com/news/judicial-review-of-n6-galway-city-ring-road-withdrawn/

8. An Coimisiún Pleanála, Inspector's Supplementary Report, cases ABP-318217-23 and ABP-318220-23 (about 11.9km of dual and 5.6km of single carriageway), viewed 4 November 2026. https://www.pleanala.ie/anbordpleanala/media/abp/cases/reports/318/r318217.pdf

9. IGEES Unit, Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, "Technical Appraisal Review, N6 Galway City Ring Road Proposal", proposal received 19 July 2017, in planning case ABP-302848-18 ("The total scheme budget is given as €593.33 million"). https://www.pleanala.ie/publicaccess/ABP-302848-18%20-%20FI%20Response/ABP-302848-18%20-%20Volume%204%20-%20RFI%20Documentation/Volume%203%20-%20Appendices/Volume%203A%20Part%201/A.2.5.%20DPER%20Technical%20Review%20-%20N6%20GCRR.pdf

10. Court of Justice of the European Union, case C-258/11 (Sweetman), judgment of 11 April 2013 (ECLI:EU:C:2013:220), on the N6 Galway City Outer Bypass. https://curia.europa.eu/juris/liste.jsf?language=en&num=C-258/11

11. Galway Bay FM, "Transport Minister says cost of Galway City Ring Road likely to be much higher than planned", 26 May 2021. https://galwaybayfm.ie/galway-bay-fm-news-desk/transport-minister-says-cost-of-galway-city-ring-road-likely-to-be-much-higher-than-planned

The number: £2.50 a month. That’s roughly what Ofgem, Britain’s energy regulator, expects the grid upgrade to add to a typical household bill by 2031, once the savings it expects are counted. Small? Perhaps. But it lands on bills that plenty of households already struggle to pay, and it’s one line of a much bigger story.

Hello, and welcome to the first issue of The Big Build.

Every week, governments, regulators and big companies decide what gets built across the UK and Ireland. They announce it in documents few people outside the industry ever read, written in a language almost nobody speaks: gobbledygook. Reading it all yourself would take weeks or months. We read it for you and pull out what matters.

This week: what’s on the UK’s building list, who pays for it, what Ireland is spending next year, and what it all means for your bills, your job and your street.

The UK’s £718bn to-do list

A government body called the National Infrastructure and Service Transformation Authority, NISTA for short, keeps a running list of what’s planned across the UK.

The latest version, from March, has 734 projects on it, worth £718bn of public and private money over the next ten years. That’s a little over £10,000 for every person in the country.

Energy is the big one at £365bn, roughly half of everything. That covers new power stations and wind farms, and the cables, substations and pylons (steel lattice towers) that carry their electricity to the rest of the country.

NISTA has said it will update the list every six months. The last update came in March, and we haven’t seen a date for the next one yet. When it lands, we’ll tell you what has changed, so you don’t have to wade through all 734 projects yourself.

You pay twice: through tax and through your bill

Some of this is paid for with public money, which means your taxes. A lot of the energy spending reaches you another way, through your bills.

Somewhere on your bill is a charge for the network, the kit that gets electricity from the power station to your kettle or iPhone. When the grid needs upgrading, that charge is how it gets paid for. In other words, you pay. But you knew that already, right?

Last December, Ofgem approved £28.7bn of upfront investment in Britain’s high-voltage electricity network and the gas networks, part of a wider pipeline of around £90bn. It expects network charges for an average home on gas and electricity to rise by around £108 by 2031. Once it counts the savings it expects to come back, it puts the net cost at about £30 a year by 2031. That’s the £2.50 a month we started with.

Plenty of readers will feel they've paid for this already. Network charges have been on every bill for decades, and it's fair to ask why the grid didn't keep pace. Ofgem's case is that the network now has to carry more electricity, from more places, than it was built for. Both things can be true. The work is needed, and taxpayers are right to ask whether they've had value for what they've already paid. Look at the state of some older infrastructure and you can see why they ask.

One more thing, in fairness to the grid. If your bill went up this month, it isn’t the main reason. The price cap rose 4% on 1 October, to £1,723 a year for a typical home paying for gas and electricity by direct debit, and Ofgem put the rise down to higher wholesale gas prices.

Ireland’s budget puts homes first

Across the Irish Sea, the government sets its building money every autumn. On 6 October, Jack Chambers, Ireland’s minister for public expenditure and infrastructure, set out €20.3bn of capital spending for 2027. That’s €1.1bn more than this year, and about €3,700 for every person in Ireland.

This money is for building only, not for maintenance or running costs.

It’s one year’s slice of Ireland’s National Development Plan, worth €275.4bn between 2026 and 2035, and next year’s slice leans heavily towards housing and the things new homes can’t do without:

• Housing: €5.6bn, including €3bn for social housing and 11,250 new-build social homes.

• Water: €2.3bn for Uisce Éireann, Ireland’s water utility, €1.5bn of it for building. The minister says that will move more than 400 projects forward, including connections for new homes.

• Transport: about €4.2bn for building, within €5.5bn for the department as a whole, plus an extra €6bn over 2027 to 2030 for MetroLink, Dublin’s planned metro, which the Government says could make room for up to 120,000 more homes.

• Climate, energy and environment: €1.3bn.

You can’t sell a house with no water connection, no transport and no power, so a lot of the money goes on the foundations and plumbing first.

Irish households pay through their bills too. The energy regulator, the CRU, has signed off up to €18.9bn of grid spending by EirGrid and ESB Networks between 2026 and 2030. It estimates that adds about €12 a year to a typical home's network charges, or €21 if the bigger version goes ahead. This year's rise was bigger. The CRU puts it at around €41.25 for a typical home from 1 October, or €3.44 a month, while the PSO levy fell to €0.51 a month.

What it means for you

Your bills. The network part of your energy bill will keep rising. Ofgem's net figure for Britain is roughly £30 a year by 2031. In Ireland, network charges went up by about €41 this October, and the grid plan alone adds €12 to €21 a year. Swings in gas and power prices will still move your bill far more than any of this.

Your taxes. In the UK, the next key date to watch is 28 October, Budget day, when the Office for Budget Responsibility also publishes its forecasts. If the government squeezes or stretches what it spends on building, you’ll see it then. Ireland resets its building budget every autumn.

Your job. NISTA estimates the UK pipeline needs between 629,000 and 706,000 workers a year over the next five years, and more than two thirds of that demand is in construction. If anyone in your household is weighing up a trade, there will be work. Hard hats at the ready.

Your street. Expect some disruption closer to home: roadworks, new substations, gas and water repairs and, in some places, new overhead lines. If a big project is planned near you, there are stages where you can have your say, and for the largest schemes in England and Wales the government's guide explains how. Developers are encouraged to consult local people before they apply. They don't have to.

The short version

• The UK has £718bn of projects lined up over ten years, and half of it is energy.

• You pay through your taxes and through the network charge on your energy bill. For Britain’s grid upgrade, that’s about £2.50 a month extra by 2031.

• Ireland is spending €20.3bn next year, mostly on homes and the services new homes can't do without.

What we don’t know yet

When NISTA’s next update lands, what the 28 October Budget does to building budgets, and whether Ireland’s €275.4bn turns “into real projects”, as the minister promised. We’ll keep score.

If you want the day-to-day detail in the meantime, The Wire covers UK and Irish infrastructure decisions and contracts every weekday morning, and it’s free: gridteamai.com/wire-archive. And if you’re curious about what’s being built near you, have a nose around our live map.

See the projects your money is paying for, county by county, at gridteamai.com/projects-near-you.

Next week: a Budget special on what the 28 October Budget means for what gets built, and for your bills.

See you next week.

Anthony

Sources

1. Department of Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation (gov.ie), “Statement by Minister Chambers on Budget 2027”, 6 October 2026. Link

2. Department of the Taoiseach (gov.ie), “Government publishes updated National Development Plan”, 22 July 2025. Link

3. NISTA and HM Treasury (GOV.UK), “Infrastructure Pipeline update signals future workforce needs”, 9 March 2026. Link

4. Government Project Delivery (projectdelivery.gov.uk), “Updated pipeline helps the country build better”, 10 March 2026. Link

5. Commission for Regulation of Utilities, “CRU Approves Record Investment in Ireland’s Electricity Grid and Network”, 16 December 2025. Link

6. Commission for Regulation of Utilities, “CRU approves 2026/27 electricity network charges and reduced PSO Levy”, 29 July 2026. Link

7. Ofgem, “RIIO-3 Final Determinations Overview Document”, 4 December 2025. Link

8. Ofgem, “Energy price cap will rise by 4% from October 2026”, 26 August 2026. Link

9. HM Treasury (GOV.UK), “Chancellor letter to the Treasury Select Committee (TSC): Budget 2026 date”, 31 July 2026. Link

10. Planning Inspectorate (GOV.UK), “Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects: the stages of the NSIP process and how you can have your say”, updated 30 July 2026. Link

11. Office for National Statistics, “Population estimates for the UK, England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland: mid-2025”, 1 October 2026 (UK population 69,483,900; £718bn ÷ 69.48 million = about £10,300 per person). Link

12. Central Statistics Office, “Population and Migration Estimates, April 2026”, 24 August 2026 (population 5,525,600; €20.3bn ÷ 5.53 million = about €3,670 per person). Link

13. ICE, “NISTA pipeline roundtable write-up”, April 2026 (”NISTA is committed to updating the pipeline every six months”). Link