Mary Moran (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I welcome our guests. It is great to see them here. I must congratulate my brother and acknowledge his contribution. There is obviously no conflict of interests because we are all on the same page.

I highly commend Mr. Malone for the tremendous work he has done in this area in conjunction with Mr. Mathews, the other members of the Dundalk Chamber of Commerce and the members of the Warrenpoint Chamber of Commerce from across the Border. It was a fantastic achievement to even get that far. As Mr. Boylan stated, it is symbolic gesture. In the context of the 15th anniversary of the signing of the Good Friday Agreement, the bridge would be a symbolic and physical manifestation of unity and how far we have come, North and South. Several of us spoke about this matter at the recent chamber of commerce lunch relating to the announcement of PayPal's expansion, which was attended by the Taoiseach. Ms Margaret Richie was particularly passionate in her comments on the matter that day. We all know that the Taoiseach and the Tánaiste are on our side in respect of this project and are very much in favour of it. I had a lengthy meeting with the Tánaiste on the matter ten days ago and assure those present that he is doing everything possible to ensure the project will proceed.

Deputy Conlan inquired as to what we could do. At our meeting in the Carrickdale Hotel we all agreed that we could talk but that action was required to keep matters moving. I hope there will be progress in the coming weeks. The bridge will open up the entire eastern region in the context of economic progression and tourism. Reference was made to construction jobs. I am aware that there are EU directives which obtain in this regard, but I hope that, in so far as is possible, such construction jobs will be geared towards and benefit local firms and people.

It is great that everyone is on the same page in this matter and that there is full cross-Border support for it. I, for one, am dying to cross the bridge.