TAOISEACH Leo Varadkar has outlined his intentions to commit much of the nation’s infrastructure spend on travel links between the south and the north.
The leader of the country announced during the week that a motorway linking Dublin and Donegal is the top of his agenda for the new year.
Varadkar got on the wrong side of unionists recently when he insisted his Government would demand “real and meaningful involvement” in the affairs of Northern Ireland if the Stormont Executive does not get up and running.
He has now backed that up by outlining his intentions to focus much of the nation’s infrastructure spend on the North and the “All Ireland economy”.
The proposed motorway will also run through parts of Derry, and Varadker also insisted that his government would be
Asked about his intentions, the Taoiseach said: “There will be a big focus on regional development, making sure all parts of the country share in the economic recovery and that there is more employment in all parts of the country particularly in the regions furthest from the east coast.
“There will also be a focus on the North and the All-Island economy, improving infrastructure over the next ten years, building a motorway to connect Dublin and the border counties to Derry and Letterkenny and also examining the Dublin to Belfast rail line.”
The Taoiseach also announced that the Government also intends to ramp up broadband provision by investing €100billion.
In September, the Taoiseach said this about the Limerick to Cork motorway after the new Tuam to Gort motorway had just been opened:
"It’s (the M17/M18) part of a future Atlantic Corridor which is going to link the entire western seaboard so with this now in place we are going to have a motorway linking Galway to Clare and Clare onto Limerick and in due course we will link Limerick to Cork as well and that’s important because it means that all roads no longer lead to Dublin."
It's only a matter of time before the dream of an "All-Ireland motorway" becomes a reality.
