In so far as the construction of this bridge is concerned when, in its initial stages it came before the Londonderry Corporation for discussion, the Donegal County Council at a very early date took the matter up. They saw that the construction of a bridge across the Foyle at Derry would, without provision being made for an opening span, be detrimental to the free passage of seafaring vessels to that part of Donegal known as Carrigans, St. Johnston, and Porthall. The county council passed a resolution which they forwarded to the Minister for Industry and Commerce demanding that he would take the necessary steps to prevent the construction of such a bridge. I do not know that at the time the Minister troubled himself very much about that resolution.
Later on, when the proposed Bill was going through the Northern Parliament a letter dated 4th March, 1929, from the Department of the President was read at a meeting of the Donegal County Council held on 26th March. That letter stated that if the council decided to take legal action in the matter of the proposed Londonderry Corporation Bridge Bill introduced in the Northern Parliament no specific authorisation from the Executive Council was necessary for the purpose. At that meeting of the county council, on the motion of Councillor Scott, seconded by Councillor Hamilton, it was unanimously decided to forward to the Executive Council an emphatic protest against their attitude in the matter, and calling on them to take such steps at once as would protect the rights of county Donegal and the Saorstát in the matter.
So far as I understand very little steps have been taken except to the extent that they made representations that if at some future date developments, which they do not now see, arose in Donegal, provision would be made for the free passage of seafaring vessels. The question rests there at the moment. The bridge is estimated to cost £325,000. If the Bill is to go through the Northern Parliament without such a provision being put into it now, it would to my mind be useless, after the bridge had been constructed at that cost to seek to have it demolished for the purpose of making a provision for an opening span. Again might I point out to the Minister and the House the importance of preserving the rights of the people in this part of Donegal to the territorial waters and the free passage of seafaring vessels. The bridge in question is at present an open span bridge. It is the third of three such bridges. The first, a wooden bridge, was erected in 1794. The second one was reconstructed in 1814. The third bridge, an iron one, which is the present structure, was erected about 1837. All three were provided with an open span for the free passage on the river Foyle above Carlisle Bridge.
The Foyle is a wide, navigable and lordly river, and laps our shores from Greencastle to Lifford. Nature never surely intended that it should be "cribbed and cabined" by the construction of a fixed bridge at Derry. At Carrigans it is 22 feet deep and half a mile wide. If you look at a map of Donegal and draw a line from Malin Head to Ballyshannon, 75 miles, and another from Glencolumbkille to Carrigans, 60 miles, the point of intersection is half way between Convoy and Oldtown. The centre of the county is there, and Carrigans is only 17 miles away, while Fahan is 20 miles, Donegal 20 miles, Buncrana 25 miles, Burtonport 25 miles, Ballyshannon and Killybegs 35 miles each, and Moville 40 miles.
Carrigans would be the nearest and principal part to the centre of the county from the east. It is only four and a half miles above Derry, and entered through (as far as the Carlisle Bridge) one of the best lighted and buoyed loughs in Great Britain or Ireland. I need hardly add that the further inland sea-borne traffic is taken the cheaper the freight. A good part of the traffic from Donegal would be made up of agricultural produce, such as oats, potatoes, etc. At Carrigans up to a few years ago there was a flourishing corn-mill. It got accidentally burnt down, but as there was no rebuilding clause in the insurance claim, it has not been so far rebuilt, but could at any time.
That is one of the points with regard to the importance of leaving a free passage for seafaring boats, so far as Donegal is concerned. These are some of the principal reasons why the people of Donegal are interested in the matter. An important point in connection with the question is that the Executive Government have the right to protect their citizens in so far as any rights they held before the Treaty, which was signed in 1921, are concerned. The right of a free passage to the boats has always been there. Provision was made in the three bridges erected for that. We hold it is the right of the Executive to take the necessary steps to preserve our right-of-way in territorial waters. It is for that reason that the Donegal County Council have taken up the attitude they have in the matter. I feel it my duty to raise the question here, and to urge upon the Minister that it is his duty to see that our rights are not interfered with. The Minister, in his reply yesterday, said:—
"I have been unable to obtain any evidence that in the present conditions the proposed replacement will impose hardships on citizens of the Irish Free State."
He further said:
"As the bridge is wholly within the territory of Northern Ireland, the matter is of interest to this State only in so far as the replacement may have an adverse effect upon the interests of our citizens. I have, as the Deputy knows, had this aspect of the matter examined, and I have been informed that no practical use of the opening span in the present bridge has been made for over 20 years."
I have information to the effect that the Carlisle Bridge was opened in 1887 to permit the passage of a schooner, "The Swift," with a cargo of sixty tons of slates for Strabane, and in 1889 for the schooner "Lily," from Maryport, with 100 tons of coal for Strabane. Both were to the order of S. O'Donnell & Co., Strabane. Later in 1910 and 1920 it was opened to permit the passage of the Harbour Board's dredger to dredge the mouth of the Strabane Canal. That would go to show that within very recent times the bridge has been opened, and the fact that provision had been made in the past for that goes to show the right of the people of Donegal to a free passage for seafaring vessels to the territorial waters.