Gerry Adams (Louth, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The Taoiseach is aware of the concept of bridge building as a metaphor for what we need to do on this island, North and South, and within the North itself. He will also be very aware that a very practical project has been in the making for the past 30 years which would bridge the North and the South and has the support of all the political parties in Counties Louth, Down and Armagh and across all civic and community sectors and society. Obviously, I am talking about the Narrow Water Bridge proposal.

At last Friday's North-South Ministerial Council meeting, Ministers were supportive of this project. The economic benefits of this infrastructural investment for communities on both sides of the Border are considerable, and at a time when the construction industry needs investment to create real jobs. The building of this bridge is a relatively small investment with significant potential. In the short term, it will deliver 270 jobs and in the longer term, the entire region will have a massive economic stimulus from the Cooley Peninsula and Slieve Gullion across Carlingford Lough to the Mourne Mountains. Support from the Special European Union Programmes Body is evidence of its importance.

I have raised this issue with the Taoiseach before and I know he supports it but the deadline keeps slipping. According to Louth County Council, the contractor is only obliged to hold the contract price until 16 December but he has agreed to extend it until 18 January next. Can the Taoiseach help to end the uncertainty over this vital infrastructural project and agree to release the funding which will bring it to completion?

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