• The Court of Appeal has overturned a decision to block work on one of Northern Ireland's largest ever road projects
• The A5, which stretches 58 miles (94km) from Derry to Aughnacloy in County Tyrone, has been earmarked for an upgrade for 20 years but the £1.7bn project has been held up by delays and legal challenges
• Lady Chief Justice Dame Siobhan Keegan ruled that a previous decision blocking the A5 was "problematic", reversing a previous ruling that the plans breached human rights and climate change targets
• First Minister Michelle O'Neill hailed the ruling as "momentous" and said the focus must now be on getting the road built, while Infrastructure Minister Liz Kimmins said her priority was "ensuring we can start construction as soon as possible"
• Campaigners for the road upgrade welcomed the court's ruling but said it was "not a time for celebration" given the death toll of more than 50 people killed on the A5 since 2006
• A lawyer for the Alternative A5 Alliance - an umbrella body of landowners, farmers and others who opposed the upgrade - said they would consider the judgement carefully
• We have been hearing reaction from a number of people living near to the road - some have said it was "long time coming", while others have welcomed the news while raising concerns about how the expanded and upgraded road may affect their community

That brings our live coverage to an end but you can read more on the story on the BBC News NI website and there will be further coverage on BBC Newsline tonight.

Today's live coverage was written by Aimee Bell, Barry O'Connor, Abigail Taylor and Ciarán McCauley, and edited by Caroline McClatchey.

Campaigner Niall McKenna, who is part of the Enough is Enough campaign seeking the A5 upgrade, tells Evening Extra that he had a consistent message for people who objects to the road: "We've always just asked them reflect and reconsider."

"Primarily because any objection inevitably leads to delay, and delay inevitably leads to more deaths," he adds.

He says the protection of life should be much more important than any other considerations.

Angela O'Neill lost her mother on the A5 road, not far from Ballygawley - she told Evening Extra that she was nervous ahead of today's ruling because they "had been disappointed in the past".

"We're just so relieved to hear of the ruling today, that we can possibly look forward to a safer road and the community here can look forward to a more peaceful life - not looking out their doors and seeing ambulances, as they have done this week on two separate occasions."

She says that it was emotional to hear the ruling.

"The tears just came and there were a lot of people hugging and a lot of other bereaved families who were there.

"It was very emotional but there was also a sense of huge relief - that we maybe won't be driving along in fear and trepidation."

Stephen Kelly is perhaps best known as the chair of Manufacturing NI - but he also has a personal connection to the A5 upgrade.

His father, Terence Kelly, was killed when the van he was a passenger in left the road at Bready, on the stretch of the road between Strabane and Derry, in August 1995.

"There isn't a day where myself, my family or my father's friends don't think about what happened to him," he tells Evening Extra.

"The needless waste of a life because of the condition of that road."

He says he tries to avoid driving on the A5 to this day, adding that "at least I have a choice" that is not available to others who live on or near the A5.

"This is something that impacts on everybody in the west and, hopefully, today finally means the end of the beginning - because we've been waiting on this road to begin since 2007."

While many along the A5 route have welcomed today's court ruling, there are those who have concerns such as Dympna Kirk and Michelle Graham.

They both live in a part of Strabane that may be impacted by the development of the road.

Dympna says she's happy that the A5 update is finally going ahead but is concerned about what this will mean for her home.

"Anything that can preserve life has to be welcomed but I do wish they would clarify what route they are going to take because we are all in limbo living on this road and in this entire area as to what's going to happen in the future."

Dympna says she is worried the road will end up going through or around her house.

"From a more community point of view, it's going to split two communities," she adds, saying it will affect farmers and access to schools.

Michelle Graham is also worried about what today's decision will mean for the future of her home.

"Our road is a tiny wee country road and it will be cut in half and we will lose half our neighbours, our friends, how we would get about our daily work but that is small and insignificant if you've lost somebody on the road."

She adds: "At the end of the day, there's 57 empty chairs which shouldn't have been.

"This should have been wrapped up, this should have been done and we need to be driving the A5 now at the minute."

Image source, PA Media

Speaking further to Evening Extra, the minister says she does not yet have a revised figure on how much the road will cost, adding: "You cannot put a price on a life."

“We have a commitment, not just from the executive, but across Ireland with our counterparts in the south in the Irish government and this is a high priority for so many people, so I have no doubt that we can push ahead regardless of the cost," she says.

The cross-border road project has been estimated to cost in the region of £1.7bn, with the Northern Ireland Executive committing "about £1.2bn" when the final plan was announced by ministers in later 2004, with an extra €600m coming from the Irish government.

Earlier this year, it emerged that almost £200m has been spent on the A5 to date despite work having yet to start.

Kimmins adds that the commitment will still be for a full dual-carriageway along the length of the A5 and that she understood that land previously vested by the department will revert to its ownership in the wake of the court ruling.

Infrastructure Minister Liz Kimmins says the court's decision is a "hugely positive outcome" but that "this is about the family, today is the day".

"The emotions we saw outside the courtroom really encapsulates just how much this means to so, so many people," she tells BBC Radio's Ulster's Evening Extra.

Kimmins says she has instructed her department officials to "now get on with the job".

“For me, the priority is moving ahead at pace, ensuring that we can start construction as soon as possible."

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.

2025: A judge rules against the long-delayed A5 road project going ahead in its current form, upholding a legal challenge taken by a group of landowners

2026: Court of Appeal overturns the decision to block the A5 project.

Evening Extra is coming up shortly on BBC Radio Ulster and BBC Sounds - the programme will have Infrastructure Minister Liz Kimmins giving further reaction to today's court ruling.

It'll also be getting further reaction from campaigners and from those in County Tyrone, where much of the A5 passes through.

Tune in from 5pm or click the button at the top of this page to listen.

Speaking at Stormont, Michelle O'Neill adds her thanks to party colleague Liz Kimmins, the Infrastructure Minister, and those who supported the legal challenge.

"I want to commend all those families out there who have been campaigning.

"This has been going on far too long, unfortunately it has not been a failure of politics, it's actually been a failure in terms of all the legal challenges that have been taken down through the years.

"We just need to turn this into getting spades in the ground, and actually getting the work done and the road built, which is Liz's determination."

First Minister Michelle O'Neill says the court ruling on the A5 is "momentous".

She says families who have lost loved ones on the road up to now had suffered "harrowing" losses and that the Northern Ireland Executive now needed to focus on getting the road built.

Image source, PA Media

Colette McKane was in a crash on the A5 in 2023. She was among seven people on the way home from a funeral in England when their minibus collided with a lorry.

Three people lost their lives in the crash.

Colette welcomed the ruling.

"It has been a long time but worth it and hopefully no other family will have to go through what we have gone through," she says.

Patsy McSorley's wife Julia died in the collision.

"It's the right decision at the end of the day," he says. "It should have been done long ago but that's the way it goes."

Their daughter Julie McGeehan calls for no more delays or appeals: "No more of this, having to drag up the past. Just get it started, just get it done."

Mike McBride
in Sion MIlls, County Tyrone

Pat McCrea is from Strabane, County Tyrone, and would regularly drive through and stop at the Yarn Spinner Cafe in the heart of Sion Mills for a bite to eat.

Pat says he is delighted to hear the A5 upgrade has finally being given the go-ahead, as he tucked into his lunch this afternoon.

“It’s been a long time coming,” he says.

“The traffic coming through this village is horrendous, so hopefully it can go some way towards alleviating that, as well as in places like Newtownstewart and Victoria Bridge,” he says.

Pat says the main thing is that the upgrade will hopefully make the road “safer in the long run”.

Vicky and Sienna work at Joe’s traditional fish and chip shop in Sion Mills.

Vicky says she is delighted that the A5 upgrade can now go ahead because too many families have been ripped apart after losing loved ones on the road.

She says, in particular, that far too many young people have been killed in recent years and that any improvements that helps make the road safer has to be welcomed.

“Hopefully it will make it safer because I would travel that road a lot and if you're not familiar with that road, I can see why people could have issues on it."

The A5 is widely considered Northern Ireland's most dangerous road - a 58-mile stretch of tarmac that traverses the west of Northern Ireland and provides passage to the south.

It begins just north of Londonderry and runs below the border town of Auchnacloy.

It passes through or around many villages and towns, including Strabane, Sion Mills, Omagh and Ballygawley.

Although mostly single carriageway with few overtaking lanes, it is a vital artery of the Northern Ireland road network and has more than 200 side roads connecting to it.

It is the main north-south route in the west of Northern Ireland, providing a link between County Donegal and Dublin, via the N2 in County Monaghan.

It also connects with the A4 road, linking to Belfast via the M1.

Since 2007, more than 50 people have have died on it and scores more have sustained life-changing injuries.

Official statistics show there has been about a 10% increase in traffic on the road in the last 10 years alone, with increase of about 30% forecast over the next 25 years.

A plan to transform the most single lane road into a dual carriageway was first proposed nearly two decades ago, with advocates arguing a new, modernised road was needed to save lives.

This timelapse video will give you a good idea of what the A5 is like.

It was taken in 2024 as part of a BBC article which took an in-depth look at the issue.

The A5 has remained largely unchanged since the 1960s, with the exception of some town bypasses, but there has been a huge rise in the number of cars, lorries and agricultural vehicles using it.

Karen McShane is a civil engineer and expert on infrastructure.

She tells BBC Radio Foyle that the start of work on the A5 – Northern Ireland’s biggest infrastructure project – may still be some way away.

“It's going to take a bit of time to pull together the details of this. We're going to have to relook probably at tenders and costings,” she says.

As well, she says, the department will also need to finalise the vesting of land (transfer of ownership) and how works will be accommodated among other things.

McShane adds: “I wouldn't be surprised if it takes six or 12 months to come to a point where we can determine a date when this project can proceed physically on the ground.”

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 in late 2024.

Plans were in place for a further €600m (£500m) to be 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 then Infrastructure Minister John O'Dowd confirmed the Irish government had recommitted its financial support for the A5, with an increased offer of €600m.

In September of this year almost £200m has now been spent on the A5 road building project. Some preparation work had been started last year but the original legal ruling put a halt to it.

The solicitor for the Alternative A5 Alliance - an umbrella body of landowners, farmers and supporters - says: "My clients will now carefully consider today's judgment."

The solicitor adds that his clients "have always been committed to ensuring the A5 project is the subject of the rigour of the law".

Image source, PA Media

Tyrone GAA says the judgment is a "significant development for the A5 project".

A significant portion of the road runs through the county.

In a post on X, external, it says: "This is a welcome and important step forward in the long-running process towards the delivery of this vital infrastructure project."

Keiron Tourish
BBC News NI north west reporter

Image source, bc

Debbie Deans is the spokesperson for Love Strabane, which campaigns for jobs, investment and town centre regeneration.

She says the A5 decision is a real boost for the area in terms of economic development, connectivity and road safety.

"This project along with the other regeneration projects that have already begun, like the public realm scheme and the City Deal, are a real boost for the town centre’s revival and for the people here.

"This’ll be hugely important in attracting inward investment and much needed jobs.

"Strabane has always been a gateway to the wider north west so this is a good day to establish Strabane as a destination in its own right."