A proposal to build a cross-border bridge linking Warrenpoint and Omeath at a cost of £500,000 was considered half a century ago. Newly released files show officials did not believe that the £200,000 funding required from Northern Ireland would be made available for the proposed link in 1975.
Earlier this year, it was confirmed that, after decades of speculation, work had begun on the Narrow Water Bridge between Co Down and Co Louth, with the Irish Government providing more than 100 million euros towards the project. However, the files show that the Department of the Environment had prepared a report in response to a proposal from Louth County Council for a bridge almost 50 years before.
The file is called “Schemes for new roads and bridges across the Northern Ireland/Eire border.”. It includes a map showing the area of the proposed bridge. A covering letter says “the estimated cost to N Ireland is £200,000”. It adds: “Fifteen hundred vehicles per day as the maximum summer usage is probably a reasonable estimate.
“The winter usage could exceed the 250 stated and would probably be around 1,000 especially if a high percentage of the Carlingford Omeath traffic used the crossing to take advantage of the dual carriageway to Newry. “Traffic on the existing Newry to Omeath road would probably drop on the length from Narrow Water to Newry.
