THE IRISH government's 10-year infrastructure and investment plan includes an entire section dedicated to shared island projects for the first time.
The unprecedented move is thought to reflect the Dublin government's growing desire to set strategy in an all-Ireland context.
While Taoiseach Micheál Martin has so far resisted calls for a border poll in the short-to-medium term, the Fianna Fáil leader and his coalition partners will today signal their commitment to increased cross-border collaboration.
The National Development Plan will include a chapter dedicated solely to outlining an ambitious number of shared island projects.
The decade-long infrastructure and investment strategy aims to drive initiatives such as improving the Belfast-Dublin rail link and enhancing collaboration in healthcare and education.
It will see additional funds pledged over and above the €500m (£428m) already earmarked by the coalition government for cross-border projects.
While the final detail of the plan has to be signed off at a cabinet meeting in Cork today, commitments around funding for the A5, Narrow Water bridge and Ulster Canal will be restated.
However, the Dublin government is understood to have concerns about Stormont’s capacity to administer the shared island funds in the immediate future because of the DUP’s boycott of the North-South Ministerial Council.
The party’s protest against the protocol is not expected to jeopardise the funds in the long-term but an absence of formal north-south ministerial engagement would likely hinder their rollout.
Irish government sources have indicated that the shared island project will be a "significant part" of the €165m (£141m) NDP, continuing the work done so far on a number of cross-border projects.
SDLP leader Colum Eastwood last night said the commitments to cross border spending demonstrated the "power and the potential of cooperation across our island".
"The SDLP has been very supportive of the Irish government work in this area, I have been meeting the taoiseach to discuss how we can maximise opportunities for people and communities across Ireland and we'll be continuing those discussions shortly," he said.
The Foyle MP said Dublin's commitment to cross-border projects "underscores the pointlessness of the DUP boycott of north-south bodies".
"When political leaders across these islands work together, we deliver more for our communities," he said.
"Cutting your nose off to spite your face isn’t an effective strategy and further entrenches division."
