- Politicians across Irish Sea want a link between Northern Ireland and Scotland
- Leading figures in the Democratic Union Party revive calls for bridge or tunnel
- Structure would link two between County Antrim and Dumfries and Galloway
- Estimated £20bn cost dwarfs the £1bn promised to the DUP by Theresa May
First Boris Johnson called for a bridge between France and England.
Now politicians across the Irish Sea want a 25-mile link between Northern Ireland and Scotland.
Leading figures in the Democratic Union Party have revived calls for a bridge or tunnel between Larne in County Antrim and Dumfries and Galloway.
The estimated £20billion cost of the project dwarfs the £1billion promised to the DUP by Theresa May as part of a deal to shore up seats in Parliament.
Prime Minister Theresa May greets DUP leader Arlene Foster, DUP deputy leader Nigel Dodds and DUP MP Sir Jeffrey Donaldson outside 10 Downing Street (left). Shown right, MP Sammy Wilson, who claims a link would ‘have a major positive impact on both countries economically’
The proposal mirrors Oresund Bridge (pictured), which links Denmark with Sweden
The DUP demanded a feasibility study into a Northern Ireland-Scotland link during its 2015 general election campaign.
It has now been revived by senior DUP MP Sammy Wilson, who claims a link would ‘have a major positive impact on both countries economically’.
He added: ‘This idea of a fixed crossing has been derided as nonsense for years, but it is entirely feasible.’
Alan Dunlop, a professor of architecture at Liverpool University, told The Times a bridge could create a ‘Celtic powerhouse’.
Eurolink envisaged a 22-mile long bridge between Folkestone and Dover between 15 piers – at a cost of $14bn This artist’s impression from 1985 shows the proposal
And he told The Times: ‘In terms of a crossing between Scotland and Northern Ireland, a Celtic connection, the coastline between each country is more sheltered and the waterway better protected [than the English Channel].’
‘Crucially, the north channel of the Irish Sea is not nearly as significant a shipping lane.’
A Whitehall source told The Times that Karen Bradley, the Northern Ireland secretary, had not had a chance to examine the proposals in depth.
The Northern Ireland Office declined to comment.
Mr Johnson put forward proposals for a second Channel crossing in meetings at Sandhurst Military Academy with French President Emmanuel Macron on Thursday