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Northern Ireland

Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 5 May 2022

Thursday, 5 May 2022

Questions (162)

Fergus O'Dowd

Question:

162. Deputy Fergus O'Dowd asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage further to Parliamentary Question No. 362 (details supplied), if he will provide details on meetings with Louth County Council and or the Department that have taken place over recent weeks in order to progress the Narrow Water Bridge project; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22423/22]

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Written answers

The Narrow Water Bridge is a cross-border project led by Louth County Council and supported by the Shared Island Fund, which is designed to fund strategic north-south projects that implement the commitments and objectives on Shared Island set out in the Programme for Government.  The bridge will connect Cornamucklagh near Omeath, Co Louth with Narrow Water near Warrenpoint, Co Down.

Following a Government decision in June 2021, An Taoiseach, Micheál Martin announced the approval of an initial €3m in funding from the Shared Island Fund to take the project forward to tender stage. Work is underway in this regard, led by Louth County Council and overseen by my Department in this jurisdiction, and the Department of Infrastructure in Northern Ireland. The Government is committed in its support for this important project, with funding for future years to be determined once firm costings are available and the tender development process has been completed.  

In the last six weeks, there have been four interdepartmental meetings held to progress this project including, one meeting of the North South (NS) Senior Officials Group (SOG) on New Decade New Approach (NDNA) for Infrastructure and Investment along with two meetings of the SOG sub group on the Narrow Water Bridge. There has also been one meeting between officials from the Department of the Taoiseach, the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage and Louth County Council.

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