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26th Jan 2015

Video: Red from The Shawshank Redemption celebrates the start of the new M17 motorway in Galway

Get busy livin’ (in traffic) or get busy drivin’

Conor Heneghan

TV3

Get busy livin’ (in traffic) or get busy drivin’.

Of all the traffic blackspots in the country, anyone who’s passed through Galway will know that the road between Tuam and Gort is as bad as it gets.

Sure, it’s not too bad now that Gort has been bypassed but being stuck in traffic in Clarinbridge or Ardrahan is enough to incite road rage in the most placid of motorists.

And don’t even get us started on Claregalway!

The road, or at least part of it, has already been immortalised in song by the Saw Doctors.

Its appeal in popular culture is now bound to increase on the back of Red (Morgan Freeman) from The Shawshank Redemption altering his famous monologue to celebrate the start of the motorway out west.

It’s Galway-based impersonator Aidan Tierney rather than Morgan Freeman providing the voice in this clip, but his Freeman impersonation is pretty spot-on and the sentiments expressed will echo with anyone who has had the misfortune of experiencing Galway traffic at its worst.

No doubt The Saw Doctors are currently working on an updated anthem as we speak.

Hat-tip to Aidan Tierney for sending this one our way. You can find him on Twitter here.

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