Taoiseach Brian Cowen opened 56-kilometre-long motorway N6 between Galway and Ballinasloe, Ireland, which was built by Sacyr Vallehermoso and FCC with a budget of 288 million euro.

This motorway, which forms a fundamental part of Ireland's National Development Plan, is one of the biggest public works projects ever built in Ireland, and it will be managed for the next 30 years by Sacyr Concesiones, an infrastructure concessions subsidiary of the Sacyr Vallehermoso (SyV) group, and Globalvía, which is owned in equal shares by FCC and Caja Madrid.

Also attending the opening were Manuel Manrique, CEO of Sacyr Vallehermoso; Juan Béjar, chairman of Globalvía; Avelino Acero, corporate manager of FCC Construcción; and José Manuel Loureda, managing director of International at Sacyr.

The completion period was thirty months, three less than the time set in the contract signed in 2007 with the National Roads Authority of Ireland.

The 56 kilometres of the motorway are supplemented by seven kilometres of conventional road and a variety of structures, foremost among which are a viaduct over the Suck River in Ballinasloe and three structures over railway tracks. Care for the landscape and environmental protection have taken top priority in this job; 48 animal crossing were built.

The same consortium that built and will be running this motorway is constructing the M50 ring road around Dublin, which the consortium will then be managing for 35 years.

Globalvía is the second-biggest company in the world in transport infrastructure management, according to the list published each year by the prestigious journal Public Works Financing (PWF). Globalvía has a backlog of 41 projects including toll roads, railway systems, marinas, industrial ports and airports.