Terry Brennan (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Last week, I believed with justification that I had good news on planning permission in respect of Narrow Water bridge. I have better news this week because significant EU INTERREG funding, amounting to ¤18 million, has been announced, despite the economic circumstances that obtain. The project will result in tourism benefits and jobs. While the jobs will be temporary and last for the duration of construction, amounting to approximately 20 months, the tourism potential for the Cooley and Newry-Mourne peninsulas will be significant. Despite what I hear occasionally in this House, this is the scenic tourism capital of the country. Narrow Water bridge will be the first iconic international bridge to be built between the North and South. It will symbolise the much improved relationship between the North and the South. The project will commence in approximately nine or ten months and construction will take 20 months to complete. I look forward to the bridge's opening in mid-2015. This development represents great news for the entire country, particularly the north east, and for relationships between the North and the South.