TÁNAISTE Micheál Martin has said the Irish Government will likely wait until the tender process for the A5 dual carriageway is completed, before announcing any new funding.
The senior government minister was speaking at Iveagh House in Dublin on Thursday night, where he hosted a large delegation of business figures from Northern Ireland.
The event, which launched a new report from the Trade NI business alliance, focused on the north’s economic achievements over the past 25 years and the benefits of greater cross-border co-operation.
It came just weeks after Dublin announced £38m for a new teaching and student-services building at the Magee campus in Derry from the Shared Island Fund.
Asked about the calls from A5 campaigners for the Irish Government to commit to funding half the cost of the A5 project, currently projected at around £1.6 billion, Mr Martin said there was a reluctance to announce anything while planning issues are live.
He also said the Irish government would be keen not to put a figure into the public domain ahead of the tender process.
“We have seen this in different projects in the Republic where you can then have potential overruns. Taxpayers will need value for money,” he said.
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“When we get the outcome of any tender process, then we will work out the Irish Government’s commitment.
“But we want the A5 completed and we will not be found wanting."
The Tánaiste also appeared unenthusiastic about Green Party TD Patrick Costello’s proposal to make the Twelfth of July a public holiday in the Republic.
“We nearly have a public holiday a month now in the Republic. So I think there’s probably an economic dimension to this at this stage,” he said.
Asked whether it could remove a potential barrier to a united Ireland, he responded: “A bank holiday is not going to be here nor there is respect of that.”
During his Iveagh House address on Thursday night, Micheál Martin said he shared the optimism contained in Trade NI’s new report on the north’s unique economic position under the Windsor Framework.
“The Irish Government is committed to helping Northern Ireland take full advantage of the opportunities arising from its access to both EU and UK markets,” he said.
“With the Windsor Framework in place, we want to work together – North South, East West, and with our international partners – to promote Northern Ireland as an attractive place to invest and to do business.
“However, ongoing political uncertainty makes this a significantly more challenging task. Without local political leadership and the restoration of the Assembly, the Executive and the North South Ministerial Council, Northern Ireland cannot fully benefit from the opportunities in front of it.
“Key decisions around prioritisation of resources and investment in key infrastructure like water and wastewater, transport, energy, are inevitably delayed; in turn holding up subsequent investment and development decisions,” said the Tánaiste.
“These institutions need to be reinstated, without further delay.”
