This proposal is to build a bridge across the top of Carlingford Lough where it meets the Newry River. The bridge would cross the narrowest point, at Narrow Water Castle, which is about a mile north west of Warrenpoint connecting the A2 Newry to Warrenpoint dual-carriageway to the R173 in county Louth

close to Omeath. The bridge would be unusual in that it would cross the international border.

The Irish National Development Plan, launched in January 2007, set aside a large sum of money for projects in Northern Ireland and on cross-border schemes and on 25 January 2007, the BBC quoted SDLP's PJ Bradley as saying that the Irish government had assured him that they would contribute €14m to the scheme. Despite this, the Irish government announced in July 2011 that they would not be progressing the plan.

Originally three routes were proposed, but the "orange" route was selected (see map below). The proposed design for the bridge was then released. This design was a cable-stayed bridge, with the main support on the southern side, and a smaller moveable section on the north side which would have been able to move to let ships through. The whole bridge would have had a length of 280 metres, with two towers of 100 metres and 30 metres in height.

Road schemes tend to live for longer than governments and recessions do, so this scheme could yet be resurrected at some future date.

Maps and Images

Artist's impression of the new bridge, released to the public Oct 2008. [via Irish Independent]

Plan view of the new bridge, as of Oct 2008, showing the channel tha boats will use to get under the bridge. [Released to the public Oct 2008]

Route options as presented to the public in May 2008  (NI to top right, RoI to bottom left).
The planners have since settled on the orange route.

Local Opinions

The scheme's aim is apparently to improve communications between each bank of Carlingford Lough

and hence stimulate the local economy and tourism. However, local people I have spoken to say that the scheme is not ideally sited, and would be better located either closer to Omeath or closer to Newry. They also argue that the R173 is not of sufficient quality to meet the road's stated aims. Local Unionist politician Danny Kennedy said that "This is a misty-eyed project that has no economic benefit for the Newry area." However, PJ Bradley said that "This announcement will help develop and expand the north-eastern economic corridor and give a new impetus to tourism in the area".

Progress

6 April 2012: In a Written Answer in the Assembly two weeks ago the "Roads" Minister confirmed that Roads Service is "not in a position to contribute any funds to the Narrow Water Bridge scheme" because "the proposed bridge [does] not improve or extend Northern Ireland’s Strategic Road Network, [and] it would therefore not attract a high priority compared to other schemes". This is not new news, but it does spell out his position unambiguously. The Environment Minister (responsible for planning permission) was also asked about the scheme. He gave a positive response: "Planning are fully aware of the social and economic benefits that would follow from the development of the bridge and these will be taken into consideration in the decision making process, along with the other normal planning and environmental criteria. I recognise that the Mournes and wider area is a wonderful natural asset which should be protected and positively developed. The Bridge Project is an important application and Planning will very carefully consider the proposal." This suggests that the scheme is likely to obtain planning permission. Louth County Council applied for this about a month ago (see previous update).

3 Mar 2012: According to this news story, Louth County Council has now applied for planning permission from the authorities in Northern Ireland for the bridge, and also published the necessary compulsory purchase order to acquire the necessary land on the Republic's side of the border. There is still no confirmation of where the money (quoted as €20m in the article) will come from. In the article, Louth CoCo imply that their main hope is Interreg funding, and that since this comes with a limited timeframe, the scheme must be "good to go" in anticipation of a positive result. With thanks once again to Patrick, and also to Brian of Old Warrenpoint.

16 Jan 2012: It seems that this project might get resurrected, despite the Irish government deciding not to proceed with the scheme last summer (see previous update). According to this news story in The Argus from last month, the scheme has now been taken up by Louth County Council. While it is true that Louth CoCo were already spearheading the project, previously it was to be funded centrally by the NRA. It now seems that Louth CoCo have basically been told that they can still proceed with the scheme, but only if they can come up with the bulk of the cash by themselves. Hence Transport minister Leo Varadkar has told Louth CoCo that they can go ahead and apply for planning approval, and that if they can come up with the bulk of the cash, the NRA will likely stump up a €1.5m contribution. The last cost estimate of the Irish government contribution was €14m in 2007, but it is not known whether this is still valid given the amount of planning that has gone on since then. (It has always been hinted that Northern Ireland might part-pay for the bridge, but this has never been officially stated.) So basically now Louth CoCo will embark on a process of applying to all and sundry for funding, while simultaneously advancing the planning process. Due to this change I am shifting this scheme back out of "Cancelled Schemes" and into "Schemes proposed but with no definite go-ahead", which seems to be a fairer description of its status. With thanks to Patrick for this information.

14 July 2011: According to a Written Answer in the Irish Dáil, the Irish government has decided not proceed with the plan. Transport minister Leo Varadkar said: "Louth County Council submitted an economic appraisal and the completed Environmental Impact Assessment of the proposed Narrow Water Bridge project to the National Roads Authority (NRA). These reports were reviewed by NRA on behalf of my Department and the NRA recently submitted their report with recommendations in relation to this project. I have examined this report and recommendations and based on the economic appraisal, the current financial circumstances, competing demands from other local authorities for strategic schemes which have a better benefit/cost ratio, this Department is not in a position to proceed any further with the Narrow Water Bridge project, and beyond 2011 no further funding will be made available for it." This seems fairly definite, and doesn't appear to be a simple postponement. It reads as if the Minister has looked at the economic appraisal and decided that the bridge is not worth building. It seems almost impossible to conceive of Stormont stumping up the cash to make up the shortfall. Of course, any scheme can get resurrected at any point, but in the absence of anything official suggesting an intention to go ahead I have moved this scheme to the "cancelled schemes" list. This will, of course, be very disappointing for the people of south Down and Carlingford areas. With special thanks to Slugger O'Toole for spotting this one and breaking the news on his web site, and also to Andrew Gallagher for sending me the link.

1 May 2011: It has been two and a half years after the previous update, and at last there is real evidence that work is progressing. Over the past couple of weeks a platform has been in place at the site of the bridge which, according to Louth County Council, is "working on ground investigations before finalising the design" (Newry Reporter 28 Apr 2011). There is still no official go-ahead for construction which, according to the council, has "no exact timeline". The picture below shows the platform. With thanks to Pat McGivern and Billy Walker.

The engineering platform being used for site investigations
at Narrow Water, as seen on 28 April 2011. [Pat McGivern]

21 Oct 2008: The latest public consultation happened yesterday. The planners have decided on the orange route connecting directly to the existing roundabout on the A2 Warrenpoint Road. The planners also released pictures of the proposed bridge - see above.

24 May 2008: Louth County Council, who are in charge of these early stages of the scheme, held public consultations on 19 and 20 May. The feasibility study is now over, and has concluded that the scheme is viable. The next stage is to look at the engineering issues around the scheme and to that end three possible locations for the bridge were proposed - as shown above. A further public consultation is expected in August.