Frank Feighan (Sligo-Leitrim, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I am delighted to have the witnesses here and thank them for the great work they are doing. The shared island initiative has been innovative and successful.

I have been a member of the Joint Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement for well over ten years. Over that ten years, we have been talking about the Narrow Water Bridge project. I was at the location with members of the Fine Gael Northern Ireland engagement group and was a bit disappointed that the project had not started, but one can see that it is moving ahead. I would like to see it start. We have been talking about this for quite a long time.

The shared island unit has engaged with many communities. I always feel that the local authorities, higher education bodies and the all-island sports bodies have an important role. The €15 million the Government allocated for all-Ireland electric vehicle charging infrastructure in sports clubs was innovative and certainly well received. The vast majority of the sports organisations now have really good governance. When I was a Minister of State, we allocated €800,000 for GAA clubs in this jurisdiction. It was great to see the GAA administering and collating. It does a good job. The initiative was very well received.

I am a Deputy in the constituency that covers Sligo, Leitrim, north Roscommon and south Donegal – four counties. Two of the counties are Border counties and Sligo is close to being one. Sometimes when people talk about the north west, they think of Letterkenny and Derry, but when I think of the north west, I think of Sligo, Leitrim and a bit of south Donegal. I am interested in the Sligo, Leitrim and northern counties railway, SLNCR, greenway project, which is to extend a greenway from Sligo to Enniskillen and farther. It will link up with the western greenway and, I believe, the other greenways. This is the way forward. I would love to see railways, including on the route in question, but first of all we have to do what is practical and useful. Railways will probably follow once we have the economies of scale, but I just want to be sure the greenway project is getting the push it needs. The Sligo-Letterkenny route must also be considered. There is talk of a greenway between Ballyshannon and Belleek. The more of these projects, working through the local authorities, the better. They are practical and get people across the Border.

Two major projects, namely the Titanic museum in Belfast and Emerald Park, formerly Tayto Park, in County Meath, have done a lot to increase cross-Border co-operation in the past 25 years. This is just a simple thing. When I ask people from the west or farther south than Mullingar why they went to Belfast, the first thing they refer to is the Titantic museum. I note their delight. The same applies to people from the North who go to Emerald Park. Such tourism infrastructure is very important.

With regard to renewable energy, the Atlantic coast has major potential. NUIG and Letterkenny have a role to play. There is an opportunity in this area. Something has happened north of the Dublin–Sligo line, namely the Atlantic Technological University. It will absolutely change the way we view third level education. The university is working closely with Ulster University Magee Campus and other colleges. We need to build on that. As a country, we are very slack in that we did not have a third level institution in the area in question. People effectively had to go to Galway, Cork, Coleraine or elsewhere. There is something happening in this regard and we need to build on it.

The research projects are very important, as is the €20 million spent on research and innovation. I have a partner who is very involved with food. The funding allocated and the work being done through Safefood and many other bodies are important, especially to areas like mine, where there are small industries involved in food preparation. People are beginning to maximise the potential in this regard. We are lucky to have very good local authorities and we can work together.

Having 600 sports club applications across every county was very impressive. It shows how important the initiative was.

I thank the witnesses for the great work. It does make a difference. I look forward to seeing the Narrow Water Bridge project going ahead. I also look forward to seeing the canal project, which is getting the go-ahead. As somebody who once took a boat down the Ballyconnell–Ballinamore canal, and further on to the Shannon, I realise the project would really create links. It is a huge project but I genuinely feel that walking, cycling and even pushing a pram across the Border are very important. I thank the witnesses for their great work and look forward to visiting some of the projects in the near future.