The leader of the SDLP has called for a "significant" infrastructure fund for Northern Ireland following confirmation the HS2 project is to go ahead.
Colum Eastwood has written to the Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak to ask if the multi-billion-pound investment in the English rail project will result in equivalent investment in Northern Ireland.
The letter from the Foyle MP follows confirmation that the HS2 project will proceed at an estimated cost of up to £106 billion.
Mr Eastwood said such a spend should result in significant allocations under the Barnett funding formula to "level up local infrastructure".
His party colleague Nichola Mallon is the region's infrastructure minister.
The SDLP leader outlined a number of proposed infrastructure projects that required funding, including rail expansion into the west of the region, the cross-border Narrow Water bridge and a rapid rail service between Derry, Belfast and Dublin.
"Developing regionally balanced infrastructure is critical to driving economic growth, creating new jobs and transforming the lives of people across the North," Mr Eastwood said.
"It is an urgent priority for the SDLP, that's why we chose to take on the challenge of the Department for Infrastructure in the new executive.
"While Boris Johnson talks about fantasy bridges, we're concerned about building roads, upgrading rail and connecting our communities in a way that delivers opportunity for everyone.
"That's why I've written to the British chancellor today requesting detailed projections of the Barnett allocations the executive should receive from projects like HS2, where costs are spiralling beyond £100bn, to level up infrastructure on this island."
