First mooted almost 50 years ago, a project to build a bridge linking the Mourne Mountains in Co Down with the Cooley Peninsula in Co Louth has gone out to tender.
Taoiseach Micheál Martin announced the development on Friday, pledging €3m from the Government’s Shared Island Fund towards the construction of Narrow Water Bridge just outside Warrenpoint.
A long-standing Government infrastructure commitment, the cross-border bridge plan was also included in the New Decade New Approach (NDNA) deal that restored Stormont in 2020.
Visiting the Narrow Water site on Friday morning, Mr Martin said it was “an important and symbolic project for the North East”.
Planning permission was secured in 2012 for the 280m cable-stayed structure which will cross the Newry River close to where it flows into Carlingford Lough - anchored by two towers at either end, for car and cycle traffic - with funding secured from the European Union and governments on both sides of the border.
But the project was shelved the following year after it emerged costs had been significantly underestimated.
Final costings will not be known until the conclusion of the tender process next year.
Asked about funding arrangements in the wake of Stormont’s collapse, Mr Martin said: “We’ve been very careful from outset that the Shared Island money is funding this project.
“In the past, the project nearly got there depending on various channels of money, it never happened so I’m determined this time that it’s going to happen. That’s the purpose of this Shared Island fund – to fund projects like this in a very straightforward way which will benefit this whole area…and fulfil the commitments of the Good Friday Agreement.”
At the height of the Troubles in 1976, the project’s seeds were first sown when Arthur Lockhart, chair of Newry & Mourne District Council, met his counterpart, PJ O’Hare of Louth County Council.
The pair agreed that a bridge at Narrow Water would unite the communities around Carlingford Lough and provide a much-needed boost to tourism.
Mr Martin told media he was delighted that the funding will now enable Louth County Council, working in conjunction with Newry, Mourne and Down District Council to put the development out to tender.
“The project also brings significant tourism and economic benefits to the region. Along with improving North-South connectivity, the bridge will be at the heart of a range of cross-border greenways, active travel, recreation and outdoor activity amenities planned for the Carlingford Lough area,” he said.
Minister for Housing Darragh O’Brien added: “This is a huge day for communities in Cooley, Warrenpoint and Newry.
“Narrow Water Bridge has been talked about for decades, and is now finally becoming a reality, thanks to the work of local community groups, the two councils and the Shared Island Fund.”
