Classmates of a Co Tyrone teenager who died on the A5 a day after attending a protest calling for the road’s upgrade have staged a protest at Stormont and met Infrastructure Minister John O’Dowd.
Kamile Vaicikonyte (17), a Year 13 pupil at the St Ciaran’s College Ballygawley, died in the crash alongside 19-year-old boyfriend Jamie Moore from Omagh in May.
She had attended the demonstration held by the school just the day before to highlight the number of past pupils who had been killed on the road.
54 crosses were presented to the minister by St Ciaran’s pupils at Stormont on Thursday representing the lives lost on the road since an upgrade was first approved by the Executive in 2007.
Mr O’Dowd said on Thursday he has recommended the road project to proceed to construction after a series of legal challenges thwarted its progress, but that the scheme still needs to get approval from the rest of the Executive.
The project will see more than 50 miles of dual carriageway built between Derry and Aughnacloy.
The cost of the upgrade is estimated at around £1.6 billion, with the Irish government having pledged £400m under its Shared Island funding scheme.
