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Funding for a proposed bridge between Scotland and Northern Ireland should be sent to Holyrood and Stormont instead, Nicola Sturgeon has said.<\/p>\nFunding for a proposed bridge between Scotland and Northern Ireland should be sent to Holyrood and Stormont instead, Nicola Sturgeon has said.<\/p>\n
Speaking at a conference in London to discuss the lead-up to the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow in November, Scotland\u2019s First Minister suggested the bridge would likely never be built but said she would like to see how far Boris Johnson can get with the plans.<\/p>\n
The British Prime Minister said on Monday that work is under way to establish the feasibility of a road crossing between Portpatrick in Scotland and Larne in Northern Ireland.<\/p>\n
Ms Sturgeon raised questions about the section of the Irish Sea where the proposed bridge will cross, which is reportedly a major munitions dump.<\/p>\n
She also said the administrations in Scotland and Northern Ireland could benefit in the immediate future from a portion of the \u00a320bn (\u20ac24bn) it would cost to build the crossing.<\/p>\n
The First Minister said: \u201cIf you\u2019ve got \u00a320 billion available to build a bridge, I\u2019m pretty sure me and I\u2019m sure equally the First Minister of Northern Ireland would be able to find things to spend that on right now that actually would be really useful to accelerate the progress to net-zero.\u201d<\/p>\n
Addressing the Prime Minister directly, she added: \u201cI\u2019m happy to take the \u00a320 billion, Boris, but maybe not spend it on your latest bridge.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ms Sturgeon brought up the scrapped Garden Bridge project, which gained traction during the PM\u2019s tenure as Mayor of London before being shelved.<\/p>\n
Following her speech, in which the First Minister said the transition to a low-carbon economy could not \u201cleave communities behind\u201d in the same way as deindustrialization had in the last century, she said: \u201cI\u2019m really ambitious about Scotland and our connections and our closest neighbors in the rest of the world.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think to say there are some big questions around the feasibility and deliverability of the suggested bridge between Scotland and Northern Ireland would be an understatement.<\/p>\n
\u201cFar be it from me to point out that this would not be the first bridge that Boris Johnson has promised and failed to deliver so he has something of a track record.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf he wants to prove that this can be done and its feasible and deliverable then let\u2019s see how far he can get with it.\u201d<\/p>\n