Local councillors in both Co. Laois and Co. Louth have raised the issue of potholes on rural roads in their respective council meetings.

Independent councillor for Graiguecullen - Portarlington in Co. Laois, Aisling Moran, believes that potholes are a problem in every county.

"The Laois County Council [is] very good, [it fills] the roads all the time, [it] just can't keep up with the number of potholes. If there's a lot of rain, or snow, or ice, the roads literally crack," Moran told Agriland.

According to the councillor, the issue of potholes is brought up every week at council meetings.

"[The council is] using tar that is more water based than oil based. The road’s are breaking up when it freezes or if there is a lot of flooding. Every day people in my community are on to me," she said.

"We talk about road safety, trying to stop deaths and accidents. Our roads are in such a bad way, especially our back roads and rural roads.

"Not all of them, we have engineers in our district, they’re very good, but they can’t keep up with the work, they need more manpower," she added.

The councillor also believes that rural roads should be widened to accommodate farming machinery.

"Farming machinery is so much bigger now, it’s heavier. The roads are still the same width as they were 30, 40 years ago. Instead of blaming farmers, because it’s their livelihood, the roads should be strengthened and widened," she said.

"Because the roads are so narrow. When machinery is coming, the wheels are nearly on the other side of the road. You can’t say to farmers you can’t drive machinery on rural roads, because they live on rural roads," she concluded.

Sinn Féin councillor for Ardee, Co. Louth, Pearse McGeough told Agriland some roads in rural Louth are "absolutely horrendous".

According to the councillor, roads in the Coole and Townspark areas outside Ardee are crumbling.

"The people that live in this area pay their taxes, and have rights to a proper infrastructure," he said.

"I know there’s a history of this road, it goes through the Ardee bog, but I’ve never seen it as bad," he added.

Councillor McGeough is keen to make sure that improvements are made to the road.

"I don’t want to knock Louth County Council, but I want to see how [it] reacted to my statement, to see if [it has] carried out necessary work to improve the road," he concluded.