DEVELOPMENT of the North-South corridor will accelerate the economic development of both parts of Ireland, said the Ulster Bank chairman yesterday. Sir George Quigley was speaking at the Belfast-Dublin economic corridor conference. He called for a formal corridor network programme.

The programme would be brokered by the IBEC-CBI joint business council who have been involved in the initial work, he said.

He told the delegates that trade - even between competing nations - fosters increasing prosperity for all parties.

At the same time, Sir George called for "even heftier" support for transport links from Europe. "Let us hope Europe does not overlook this when the future of regional funding is being considered," he said.