'Bypassed' explores what happened with the construction of the M7 motorway

Remember what it was like to drive from Dublin to Cork in 1983? Tedious would be one description, frustrating another.

A documentary of RTE 1 TV tonight looks at what happened to villages and towns which were bypassed betwwo 1983 and 2010, when the construction of the M7 was finally completed.

Naas and Monasterevin feature. As do people and businesses in towns from Monasterevin to Moneygall who have been impacted – both positively and negatively – by this 164-kilometre length of tarmac.

Filmed over a year, 'Bypassed' will be screened at 9.35pm.

The first section of the motorway was opened at Naas in 1983 and it was completed to Limerick at the end of 2010 at an estimated cost of €2 billion.

Local historian Liam Kenny reflects on the excitement surrounding the opening of the Naas by-pass in 1983 — the first stretch of motorway standard road in the Republic.

Worth a watch. It is likely also to raise memories amongst Kilcullen people about when the village used to be on the main road to Waterford, until bypassed itself in 1994 by the construction of the M9.