The long-awaited A4 Enniskillen Southern Bypass has taken another significant step forward, with Infrastructure Minister Liz Kimmins instructing officials to proceed towards issuing a Notice of Intention to Award the construction contract.
For people in Enniskillen, however, talk of a Southern Bypass is nothing new.
The project has moved through years of plans, announcements, funding decisions and procurement stages, and while the latest development represents further progress, construction of the road itself has not yet been confirmed.
In a written response dated 9th September 2026, Infrastructure Minister Liz Kimmins confirmed that she had instructed officials to proceed to the Notice of Intention to Award stage.
The Minister also confirmed that the A4 Enniskillen Bypass has been included in her Department’s draft budget, adding that she had received assurances from the Finance Minister that projects with an Executive commitment would receive ringfenced funding in future years.
There is, however, still an important hurdle to overcome.
Any decision to award the construction contract will remain dependent on the outcome of the ongoing A5 Western Transport Corridor appeal, as well as the successful completion of the procurement process.
What has changed with the Enniskillen bypass?
The latest announcement means the procurement process can move another step forward while the Department waits for the outcome of the A5 appeal.
In her written response to Fermanagh and South Tyrone MLA Deborah Erskine, Minister Kimmins said she remained fully committed to delivering the scheme and had instructed officials to proceed to the Notice of Intention to Award stage so that the substantial work already undertaken would not be lost.
The Department has previously explained that issues being considered as part of the A5 legal proceedings could have implications for other major infrastructure projects, including the Enniskillen bypass.
It means the latest announcement is an important development — but it isn’t yet confirmation that construction is about to begin.
What would the A4 Enniskillen Southern Bypass involve?
The proposed bypass would create a new road around the southern side of Enniskillen, providing a link between the A4 Dublin Road and A4 Sligo Road.
The current scheme is approximately 2.1km long and includes a new single carriageway with overtaking lanes, two new roundabouts at the Dublin Road and Derrylin Road, and two new river bridges over the River Erne and River Sillees.
The Department currently gives an indicative overall cost of approximately £36 million.
One of the main aims is to remove some through-traffic from Enniskillen town centre, helping to reduce congestion and improve journey reliability while separating local and strategic traffic.
The plans also include provision for cyclists and pedestrians, with the Department identifying improved road safety, reduced noise and air pollution and an improved town centre environment among the objectives of the scheme.
A bypass that has been talked about for decades
For many people locally, the latest announcement will inevitably come with a sense of déjà vu.
The idea of bypassing Enniskillen has been discussed in various forms for decades.
During an Assembly debate about the project in February 2024, Deborah Erskine said she had spoken to a man who recalled being told by a Roads official that plans for an Enniskillen bypass had existed 47 years earlier.
The current scheme has itself been progressing for well over a decade.
A Preferred Route Corridor was announced in July 2011, followed by an Emerging Preferred Route in June 2015. Draft Orders and the Environmental Impact Assessment Report were published in 2018, before the Department decided in 2019 that the scheme could progress without a public inquiry due to the low number of objections received.
In May 2021, then Infrastructure Minister Nichola Mallon announced her intention to proceed with the scheme and make the necessary statutory orders.
Another major announcement followed in February 2024, when Infrastructure Minister John O’Dowd confirmed his intention to progress the bypass towards procurement and construction.
The procurement process subsequently began in April 2024, with shortlisted contractors invited to tender later that year.
The project appeared to be moving closer to construction, but the legal challenge surrounding the A5 Western Transport Corridor created another delay.
Local reaction remains sceptical
Despite the latest progress, reaction from some local people on social media suggests that not everyone is ready to believe the bypass will finally become a reality.
Comments following reports of the latest development included people questioning whether the road will ever actually be built, while others joked about how frequently the long-running project appears to return to the headlines.
One recurring sentiment was effectively that people will believe the bypass is happening when they finally see it being built.
The reaction perhaps illustrates the frustration surrounding a project which has remained on the local agenda for such a long time.
It isn’t necessarily opposition to the bypass itself. Instead, many of the comments appear to reflect scepticism over whether the latest announcement will finally lead to construction after years of previous developments and proposed timelines.
So, is the Enniskillen bypass finally going to be built?
We’re not at that point just yet.
The decision to proceed towards issuing a Notice of Intention to Award is another important step in the process, and the project’s inclusion in the Department’s draft budget provides further reassurance over its future funding.
But the Minister’s response makes clear that awarding the construction contract remains dependent on the outcome of the A5 appeal and successful completion of the procurement process.
For now, the A4 Enniskillen Southern Bypass has moved another step closer.
After decades of discussion, however, many people in Enniskillen may understandably be waiting for a much more visible milestone — construction actually beginning.
