Deputy Reynolds gave me notice of his intention to raise on the Adjournment the subject matter of the progress which has been made through the Anglo-Irish Agreement on the question of the reopening of cross-Border roads between County Leitrim and Northern Ireland which have been closed since the mid-seventies.
Adjournment Debate. - Cross-Border Roads.
This problem has been ongoing since the Border crossings between the counties of Leitrim and Fermanagh were closed during the mid-seventies. County Leitrim finds itself at a disadvantage in that it is the only Border county which does not have direct access to Northern Ireland. Leitrim County Council have raised this matter on numerous occasions. A deputation from the council met the then Minister for Foreign Affairs, Deputy Brian Lenihan, who indicated that he would have the matter raised at the Anglo-Irish Secretariat. That deputation met the former Minister two years ago and, unfortunately, the position has not changed since then.
Leitrim County Council requested the present Minister to meet a deputation but due to a full calendar he was unable to meet them. However, his private secretary did reply to a letter sent by the council in which he stated:
The Minister has asked me to thank you for your invitation to visit the county but he regrets that due to a heavy schedule of commitments in the period ahead it would not be possible for him to take up the council's offer at this time. However, the Minister has asked a senior official of his Department to visit the area in order to discuss with you the question of closed roads and to report back to him. Contact will be made with you shortly concerning the detailed arrangements.
Would the Minister indicate if a senior civil servant has visited County Leitrim to view the area, as it is my understanding that no such visit had taken place up to two weeks ago? If a senior civil servant has visited the area I would ask the Minister of State to report on the situation.
Two cross-Border crossings between County Leitrim and County Fermanagh should be reopened immediately, the first is Rosinver-Dooard-Garrison and the other is Kiltyclogher to Cashel Bridge. Kiltyclogher is one of the few villages in the Republic which suffered from terrorist activity and attacks. The local vocational school was bombed in the mid-seventies and since then it has suffered from devastating socio-economic factors. The village is dying a slow and painful economic death as local business people have to depend on the population of a hinterland which has been eroded by emigration and migration. The community has suffered in silence for long enough. The reopening of a Border crossing, which would leave the village with a much greater hinterland, would be the first step in restoring economic prosperity to the area.
The Rosinver-Dooard-Garrison crossing is on the shores of Lough Melvin. A report commissioned by the European Community, the Irish and the British Governments and carried out in 1986 states that the strategy for tourism is central to the future development of the Lough Melvin catchment area. The closure of Border crossings in County Leitrim has affected its tourism potential in several ways, the most obvious being that people wishing to travel all the way around the lake, and more pointedly, those wishing to travel between Garrison and Rosinver only, a distance of two miles have to take a detour of some 20 miles. In addition, the stark appearance of the barriers at Derryhaser and between Garrison and Rosinver is unattractive and a striking visual reminder of the Border security problem. It is clear that the road closure is an important barrier to economic development in the region.
Although we are not in a position to evaluate the non-economic issues involved in the re-opening of the road, it is imperative that I stress the damaging economic implications of the road closure. During the past number of years there has been substantial investment by Government agencies in fisheries in the Lough Melvin area by way of improvements to jetties and mooring points.
I must now call the Minister.
Finally, I ask the Minister of State to raise the question of the re-opening of those roads at the Anglo-Irish Secretariat.
I wish to congratulate Deputy Reynolds for raising this matter as this is the only Border county with no link with Northern Ireland.
I cannot countenance an interjection at this stage.
First, I thank Deputy Reynolds for raising this matter. As he is aware, I replied on a somewhat similar matter which was raised in the House last week. I have listened with great interest to his comments and would like to reassure him that the Government are fully aware of the inconvenience caused by the closures in question to the communities on both sides of the Leitrim-Fermanagh Border.
I also wish to assure the Deputy that the Government have taken every opportunity under the terms of the Anglo-Irish Agreement to impress upon the British authorities the social and economic disruption caused to the people of Leitrim and Fermanagh by these road closures. The Government take the view that all road closures should be kept under careful review and should only be maintained where security considerations clearly outweigh the inconvenience to the local community.
Unfortunately, the information available to me suggests that the British authorities do not consider that any of the closed roads in question can be reopened having regard to the security position. The Government will of course — and I take the Deputy's point in this respect — continue to press for a solution to this problem through the Anglo-Irish Intergovernmental Conference and the Anglo-Irish Secretariat in Belfast. We will also seek to ensure that the British authorities are at all times fully aware of the views of the local community on this issue, and Deputy Reynolds's raising of this matter tonight will help us to do that with greater force.
I can assure the Deputy that the Government are committed to furthering greater cross-Border economic co-operation and development between counties Leitrim and Fermanagh. I need hardly remind him of the importance of the Ballinamore-Ballyconnell canal project in this regard. The Taoiseach, in his recent remarks on the launching of the canal restoration project, drew attention to the economic and social importance of the restoration project for the people of County Leitrim and pointed out that the Government had submitted the canal project to the European Commission under the National Development Plan as one of its flagship projects for Structural Funds support.
The EC Commission shared the Government's assessment of the economic potential of the canal and have now committed, as the Deputy is aware, substantial funding from the European Regional Development Fund to the project. The two Governments will contribute significantly to the project and the International Fund for Ireland, which was established under the Anglo-Irish Agreement, played a pivotal role in the early stages of the project and has made a very substantial commitment to the costs of the construction work.
In reply to the Deputy's question concerning the letter that Leitrim County Council sent to the Minister, while the Minister appreciated the invitation he was, as the Deputy said, unable to visit the county because of a very full schedule. However, an official of the Department is visiting the area today and when he makes his report we will be in a position to inform the Deputies for the area, all of whom have an interest in this matter, what his findings are. I reassure Deputy Reynolds and the other Deputies who raised this matter that the Government will continue to press it with the British Government and to point out the social and economic disruption that has been caused by these closures.