Seán Crowe (Dublin South West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the witnesses. The submission given to the committee refers to the bridge and its potential to become a symbol of reconciliation and peace. Bridges unite communities and bring people together, negating divisions. In that sense, it is a very positive project.

I read media reports recently concerning Mr. Jim Wells, one the MLAs for the area. He was asked about the delays and said that it was a very important project, involving a lot of money from the EU. He said it was necessary to make sure everything is kosher with regard to the project. That seems very reasonable. The witnesses made the point that the project ticks all of the relevant boxes. However, part of the problem is that this is a North-South project, which may not tick the correct box in terms of finance for Mr. Sammy Wilson, MLA. It may not tick the box for many of his colleagues. The witnesses may not want to go into the political issues here, but are they concerned about a dead hand vis-à-vis this project because it does not tick the boxes for certain people? Are they worried that the project will not go ahead? What is the timescale for the completion of this project? Are the witnesses concerned that this will be investigated to death? How wide is the window of opportunity here in terms of this project actually going ahead?