Newry Southern Relief Road (NSRR) bridge link to Warrenpoint: Appeal to Taioseach is playing politics and risks entire project, says DUP

An appeal to Dublin to help fund a bridge in south Down risks “playing politics” with the project and jeopardises plans for an important relief road at Newry, it has been claimed.
By Donal McMahon
Published 6th Jul 2023, 19:00 BST
Updated 6th Jul 2023, 19:48 BST
SDLP Councillor Michael Savage is calling for a new bridge at Albert Basin in Newry.to open for tall ships.SDLP Councillor Michael Savage is calling for a new bridge at Albert Basin in Newry.to open for tall ships.
SDLP Councillor Michael Savage is calling for a new bridge at Albert Basin in Newry.to open for tall ships.

DUP South Down MLA Diane Forsythe was speaking after Newry Mourne and Down District Council appealed to the Irish government for extra funding for a new Southern Relief Road Bridge to link the Belfast-to-Dublin route with the Newry-to Warrenpoint Carriageway.

The bridge is part of the Newry Southern Relief Road (NSRR) project which aims to reduce traffic flow in Newry city centre and ease access to and from Warrenpoint Port.

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It is a separate project from the Narrow Water Bridge, which is located further out on Carlingford Lough and will link Warrenpoint with Omeath in Co Louth.

But while the Narrow Water Bridge will open to allow large ships to pass through, the Newry bridge will not.

Despite a letter from Newry, Mourne and Down District Council to the Department for Infrastructure (DFI), Permanent Secretary Julie Harrison has rejected calls for the smaller bridge to open also, saying “the cost of providing an opening bridge far outweighs the potential benefits”.

However, the council chamber this week heard that a solution to facilitate tall ships could lie in potential funding from the Shared Island Unit in the south.

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Newry SDLP councillor Michael Savage said: “We’ve had shortfalls before and on a previous occasion the southern government has stepped in on Shared Island Unit funding for mutual benefit projects.

“From that perspective I believe we should be considering making an approach to the taoiseach, similar to finding the funding we didn’t have in the North when it came to much-needed funds for nurse training at Magee college in Derry.”

But South Down MLA Diane Forsythe opposed the appeal to Dublin.

"We don’t want to see any delay in this project by those seeking to play politics with it,” she said. “Our councillors have opposed any further delay on this project because to do so could jeopardise funding that is already in place and therefore the entire project. We want to see this road and bridge delivered. The Southern Relief Road will be a gamechanger for traffic passing through Newry”.

Related topics:DUP