Irish Republic prepared to invest in Northern Irelands infrastructure

26 Oct 06
The Republic of Ireland will make a large investment in the infrastructure of Northern Ireland, the Irish Taoiseach Bertie Ahern has announced.

27 October 2006

The Republic of Ireland will make a large investment in the infrastructure of Northern Ireland, the Irish Taoiseach Bertie Ahern has announced.

The declaration is seen as one of the side deals which led to the St Andrew's Agreement – the amended version of the Good Friday Agreement, intended to resurrect devolved government in Northern Ireland.

The taoiseach said that 'we are prepared to play our part' in the reconstruction and development of Northern Ireland.

It is widely expected that Ahern's government will allocate €1bn to infrastructure projects, including the upgrading to motorway standard of the Northern Ireland stretch of the Dublin to Derry road – which services much of Donegal to Dublin traffic – and funding towards an Ireland-to-Britain electricity interconnector.

Northern Ireland's health minister, Paul Goggins, this week announced that patients from Donegal will be able to use radiotherapy facilities in Belfast, with agreed full cost contributions from the republic's government.

PFoct2006

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