Government revives plans to build road between Northern Ireland and Scotland
The Government has launched an official feasibility study into the prospect of a tunnel or bridge between Northern Ireland and Scotland.
The plan - which aims to speed up travel around the UK - includes a potential rail tunnel between Scotland and Northern Ireland. Dubbed "Boris burrow", a tunnel was first mooted by Mr Johnson in 2018, but he will now hope it might help ease tensions caused by the post-Brexit border arrangements.
The cost of the tunnel is rumoured to be £15bn and £20bn. It would be roughly 25 miles long, about the same length as the Channel tunnel, and run from Stranraer in Scotland to Larne in Northern Ireland.
Plans for some kind of link between Northern Ireland and Scotland go back as far as the 1890s. The Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) revived the idea in its 2015 general election manifesto.
But Stormont's Infrastructure Minister Nichola Mallon said the review "represents a gross breach of trust and is all about meeting Tory manifesto pledges".
In addition, a major factor that’s been raised on several occasions is Beaufort's Dyke, an area of the Irish Sea where surplus munitions from the two World Wars and radioactive waste were dumped. It’s believed that more than a million tonnes of munitions dumped there by the War Office and its successor the Ministry of Defence up until the mid-1970s.
UK Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said the purpose of the review was to "make it easier to get around the whole of the British isles" and that it would include north-south connections as well.
The A75 proposal is among the review's more practical recommendation for improving connections between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK. An upgrade of the A75 would mean improving the main road between the port of Cairnryan and the M6 motorway in Scotland
Much of Northern Ireland's freight shipments arrive by ferry into Cairnryan but then face a journey of 100 miles along the A75, a mainly single carriageway road, before they can join a motorway. Improving the A75 is one of the projects which will share £20m of development funding.
Two engineering professors - Douglas Oakervee, a former chairman of HS2 and Crossrail, and Gordon Masterson, a former vice-president of Jacobs Engineering - will assess the potential project in regards to cost, timescale and works required.
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hissingsid on 10 March 2021
This sounds like an April Fool story, but it's only the 10th of March!BrendanP on 11 March 2021
The Channel tunnel was bored through relatively soft chalk. I believe the rock under the Irish Sea is largely granite. It's a ludicrous idea, but I guess they want to spend tens of millions on a study to get the same answer.Robert McAuley on 11 March 2021
It's under the North Channel, not the Irish Sea and much of the Geology is of soft Mesozoic sediments , not granite as you state. Please don't state incorrect info.
hissingsid on 11 March 2021
The money would be better spent on a decent pay rise for front line NHS staff.Boris seems to have forgotten that they saved his life.
Dave_ on 11 March 2021
If you believe he actually had COVID, and not just a bad cold and wanting to have a week or two away from difficult questions.
lazyjo on 12 March 2021
This idiot Johnson just want some thing for people to remember by ie Thames Garden Bridge failed Thameside Airport failed Bridge/Tunnel to North Ireland failed case closed...
philthunder on 16 March 2021
Don't forget the Boris Bus, another White Elephant, that he is now keen to cover the county with. Rear entrance that allowed fair dodgers, hybrids that had duff batteries, duff air con that left travellers cooking as they had no opening windows, great for spreading covid, and no one outside of London wanted to buy them. He's got an excellent reputation for wasting cash though.
Robert McAuley on 11 March 2021
Why when most in the NHS have being doing little work otherwise England would not now have 4,200,000 people on the waiting list?. Unfortunately you believe in the media nonsense
Jez McKinley on 11 March 2021
No, I believe my partner when she comes home after having done, as the rest of her team also do, a bunch of unpaid overtime, the monetary value of which has decreased considerably since 2010.
The reason for the overtime is that their workload and stress with dealing with Covid has gone up, morale has gone down and they are short handed due to Covid measures / isolation, and because people are leaving before the job kills them.
VINCENT MILLARD on 12 March 2021
Well put! Those who think that most of the NHS have been sitting around doing nothing are in Cloud Cuckoo land! They all had to go over to dealing with C19 cases!
conman on 13 March 2021
as a Ex firefighter the only way politicians appreciate you is by going on strike. Doing hours of unpaid overtime is just what they want.
conman on 13 March 2021
as a Ex firefighter the only way politicians appreciate you is by going on strike. Doing hours of unpaid overtime is just what they want.
Les Boris on 12 March 2021
Probaly the first time ever the NHS has had to stand up. Most of the time you have to wait to be seen to whilst they finish their coffee and group chat, while you wait in agony. Happened to memany times. The NHS is a fantastic instituation, and they did their job, but so have so many others.
Maxonian on 11 March 2021
The reason for this is purely political not practical. Anything to divert attention from the worst effects of barmy Brexit and of course to hold on to N.Ireland before they finally say to themselves - hey, we're better off in Eire.The Boris bus - let's save £350m and use it for the NHS - no wait, let's tunnel under the Irish Sea instead.
Robert McAuley on 11 March 2021
It's not under the Irish Sea and as England has a channel tunnel then , logically, the NI taxpayer should not be denied the same privilege.
Jez McKinley on 11 March 2021
England has a channel tunnel to get to Europe by road. NI can do the same, without a tunnel currently, they just end up in RoI rather than France. I'm clearly missing something in the parallel you are suggesting.
Steven Campbell on 15 March 2021
I'm sorry Maxonian but speaking for those of us who live in Northern Ireland which I'm guessing you don't I don't believe we're better off in Eire we'll be alot worse off, it'd been better if Brexit never happened but alas it has. You just seem to have given the typical English response to a situation you know nothing about.
pat bradley on 11 March 2021
it is estimated at a cost of £33 Billion , this would go a long way to improve existing road network . If it's ever built which i doubt the cost, would be twice or three times higher or if not more . It's a Mad idea , it is just playing politics. Look at the history of Johnston he has a habit of wasting money
Edited by pat bradley on 11/03/2021 at 18:45
Paul Bennington on 11 March 2021
Interesting that the article refers to a rail tunnel and the picture shows a road tunnel. I wonder which it is going to be.Paul Jenkinz on 12 March 2021
i was wondering same thing too
on 11 March 2021
Presumably goods going through would still have to be searched etc, so what difference would it make except help Scotland when it becomes independent and rejoins the eu.Mike Gooch on 11 March 2021
That kind of money would be better spent building a decent road link from the M3 to the West Country which would benefit the economy of the whole region, Somerset, Devon and Cornwall.Also given the amount of time people spend in traffic jams on this route it could actually reduce pollution as well.Robert McAuley on 11 March 2021
England, England, England?? England has the channel tunnel, HS2, London crossrail etc , etc so why should other regions not have some spending?
Barrie Lindsey on 11 March 2021
This tunnel will be in Scotland. So if in the future Scotland gets independence, who will be responsible for the tunnel. If it's not our parliament in London, why should we spend Billions from our taxes to build it.Also if Scotland gets independence and re-joins the EU, that means there will then be EU customs posts at the Scottish end.
This is just another Boris ego trip, just like HS2.
Barrie Lindsey on 11 March 2021
This tunnel will be in Scotland. So if in the future Scotland gets independence, who will be responsible for the tunnel. If it's not our parliament in London, why should we spend Billions from our taxes to build it.Also if Scotland gets independence and re-joins the EU, that means there will then be EU customs posts at the Scottish end.
This is just another Boris ego trip, just like HS2.
robert battley on 11 March 2021
yeah i can just imagine all those evs held up in a tunnel while all the ckecks are done , i wonder if there will be charging points. much better spending the money on a security wall on the boarder to stop all the rasberry pickers from going south once scotland goes independant, i hope the people of england are not nieve enough to think all the eastern europeans that sturgeon wants to work for the farmers will stay in scotland or even go home , oh no they will be playing accordians on a street corner near you ,[a tunnel] dont be so stupid, get a grip and put mr bean in charge im sure we would have a more intelligent outcome we cant get it right with a smart motorway let alone a smart tunnel.Bernie Carey on 11 March 2021
The road infrastructure between east and west and even north south is awful. I can remember a plan, shown in our local paper decades ago with a new "motorway " between Londonderry and Belfast. The plan has been updated z but as yet is incomplete and there are also questions about funding and planning permission for the north/south carriageway outstanding. That amount of money for a bridge or tunnel from Scotland to Northern Ireland which will never be started in my lifetime is Boris's new pet project. Post Covid there's a lot more that this money could be used for, health service pay increase being top of the list..Bernie Carey on 11 March 2021
The road infrastructure between east and west and even north south is awful. I can remember a plan, shown in our local paper decades ago with a new "motorway " between Londonderry and Belfast. The plan has been updated z but as yet is incomplete and there are also questions about funding and planning permission for the north/south carriageway outstanding. That amount of money for a bridge or tunnel from Scotland to Northern Ireland which will never be started in my lifetime is Boris's new pet project. Post Covid there's a lot more that this money could be used for, health service pay increase being top of the list..sbg269 on 11 March 2021
Why do we need to improve the Scottish roads when they want to exit the union. Surely we could improve the ferry services from the UK. Not so long ago we had services from Heysham and Lancaster which only took 4 hrs a lot different to the overpriced 8 hour crossing from BirkenheadMike TTT on 11 March 2021
The Channel Tunnel is 75m at its deepest and the seabed is relatively flat. The Beaufort's dyke has a depth of 300m and around a million tonnes of old ordnance dumped in it from WW2.
The shortest distance is from the Mull of Kintyre to Ireland but with no real infrastructure to speak of. However if you built bridges from the mainland across Arran to the Mull you might have a chance. The cost would make the debt of the Pandemic look like a grain of sand on a beach.
There have been so many feasibility studies done on this.....
Edited by Mike TTT on 11/03/2021 at 22:50
Joss Cues on 11 March 2021
Feck off is all I can say.WILLIAM MCGOVERN on 11 March 2021
Improving the A75 is overdue and to build a tunnel to connect to Ireland is a logical step improving the economy of both countries. Investment in infrastructure lasts. The channel tunnel. Who's complaining? Its brilliant. The Irish tunnel will be the same. All the work that it will provide and both economies will prosper. I hope the decision is a tunnel.Mike Gooch on 11 March 2021
One is asked " wht England England Englad ". The simple answer is because it will be English tax payers money. The outdated Barnett formula still ensures that the Goverment spends more per head in Scotland than in England.Thusfar on 11 March 2021
Another joke from the clown prime minister!
David Cleverley on 12 March 2021
A tunnel can be achieved, there is 6 mile tunnel under the sea with an under water roundabout in the Faroe island's.Stuart McIntyre on 12 March 2021
Excellent idea - let the Scottish and Irish governments pay for it.aethelwulf on 12 March 2021
Well, contraction companies would love it so some decent political donations would be on the way surely?I recall how teh cost of teh Channel Tunnel kept increasing and the banks had to fund it being threatened by Mrs Thatcher.
The government couldn't afford that tunnel so how they hope to afford an far more expensive one is pure fantasy. It will give consultants a lot of work though. Someone wins every time.
Gordon Ennis on 12 March 2021
Ever since Churchill partitioned Ireland it's been a massive cause of trouble, loss of lives, and massive expense to the English taxpayer. Way past time to repatriate it to the Irish. Despite religious differences, it's their country.Tony Mahon on 12 March 2021
Another wild Boris scheme that will never be realised, unless he puts Chris Grayling in charge because he REALLY knows what he is doing.BikerGSA on 12 March 2021
As per the London Garden Bridge this is yet another of Johnson's wasteful follies.Studies carried out before digging the channel tunnel showed that road transport in such long tunnels was far too dangerous to contemplate with the hundreds of different drivers and vehicles making their way through and posing a very real and dangerous hazard; this perceived tunnel would be no different. Trains with one driver on one track in one direction was a far, far safer option.
Despite Johnson's rhetoric this road will not alleviate the border problems incurred when trading with the North of Ireland, only rejoining the single market and customs union or the EU itself will do that.
conman on 13 March 2021
Scotland wants independence so why connect it to Northern Ireland.money could be better spent.
1. Morecambe bay barrage connecting Hesham to Barrow-in- Furnace incorporating a cheap road toll which would be a short cut to the B-in-F area but also incorporates a massive water holding reservoir that should generate hydro electricity..
2. the Bristol Channel Barrage same outcome incorporating a road link (toll) from Wales to Cornwall plus facility to generate Hydro electricity.
Both would generate enough revenue to pay for themselves
conman on 13 March 2021
Two engineering professors - Douglas Oakervee, a former chairman of HS2 and Crossrail, and Gordon Masterson, a former vice-president of Jacobs Engineering - will assess the potential project in regards to cost, timescale and works required.No problem then with these two idiots assessing the project if it is anything like the H2 project should only cost £1 million pounds and be completed in a fortnight.
Why would you get Douglas Oakervee, a former chairman of HS2 to asses anything going off his past record.
seems Boris is going Bonkers again.
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