Would a Boris bridge to Northern Ireland work?
No. 10 confirms that officials are looking into building a bridge across the Irish Sea
Boris Johnson is facing ridicule after No. 10 said the government was looking into building a bridge connecting Northern Ireland and Scotland.
According to the BBC, work is underway “by a range of government officials” to look at the idea of building a Scotland-Northern Ireland bridge, with Johnson describing the prospect as a “very interesting idea”.
The PM first talked about the concept in 2018 and again last September, when engineers told The Guardian the plan was “bonkers”.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
What does Johnson want?
According to The Scotsman, the PM is “seeking to sanction a series of grand infrastructure projects to cement the legacy of his rule” despite opponents of the move previously describing it as a “waste of public money”.
If such a bridge between Scotland and Northern Ireland were to be built, it would likely be a bridge-and-tunnel combination. The BBC reports that two routes have been floated - from Portpatrick to Larne or near Campbeltown to the Antrim coast.
The prime minister’s spokesperson said: “The prime minister has said it would have some merit - as a result you would expect government to be looking into it.
“Work is under way by a range of government officials.”
How much would it cost?
In September, Johnson told London schoolchildren that he was thinking “about building a bridge from Stranraer in Scotland to Larne in Northern Ireland”, adding: “That would be very good. It would only cost about £15bn.”
Chris Wise, the engineer behind London’s Millennium Bridge, later said it was foolish to put a price on the plan before a proper design had been completed.
“It’s socially admirable but technically clueless. If Boris wants to stay prime minister, he needs to stop promising figures before he can deliver them,” he said.
“If everything from the Olympics to HS2 are anything to go by, to quote the number and the price of any of these publicly funded projects this early without a design, in my view, is bonkers.”
–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––For a round-up of the most important stories from around the world - and a concise, refreshing and balanced take on the week’s news agenda - try The Week magazine. Start your trial subscription today –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
Dr John McKinley, a senior lecturer in environmental engineering at Queen’s University Belfast, agreed that the plan was based on “dubious economics”.
“The idea has been floating around since the 1880s and seems to come around every 30 to 40 years,” said McKinley. “Connecting Belfast to Glasgow, lovely places though I think they both are, isn’t as obviously a good thing as connecting London to Paris.”
Is it feasable?
One problem with the idea is the proposed routes would likely cross Beaufort’s Dyke, the UK’s largest offshore dump site for conventional and chemical munitions after the Second World War.
According to the Herald Scotland, the dyke, just seven miles off Portpatrick, contains “a million tons of munitions” including “14,500 tons of artillery rockets filled with phosgene gas as well as two tons of concrete-encased metal drums filled with radioactive waste dumped there during the 1950s”.
In a letter to The Times, another engineer warned that the plan was “about as feasible as building a bridge to the Moon”, while the Architects Journal’s Simon Aldous has said: “As London mayor, he spaffed (I believe that’s his favoured term) £43m on a never-built Garden Bridge.
“Boris Johnson’s modus operandi seems to be well established now: waffle vacuously and then, if something more substantial seems necessary, propose a bridge.”
As well as this, The Guardian notes that if Johnson were to go ahead with the project, “it is not impossible that, by the time it was actually finished, Scotland could have voted for independence and Northern Ireland could have voted for reunification with the Republic of Ireland”.
“It could end up as a bridge between two countries no longer part of the UK.”
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
Will Aukus pact survive a second Trump presidency?
Today's Big Question US, UK and Australia seek to expand 'game-changer' defence partnership ahead of Republican's possible return to White House
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK Published
-
Farewell to Theresa May: a PM consumed by Brexit
Talking Point Maidenhead MP standing down at next general election
By The Week UK Published
-
Britain's biggest political donors
The Explainer With the 2024 general election set to be the highest-spending contest ever we look at who is giving to which party and why
By The Week UK Published
-
Can Boris Johnson save Rishi Sunak?
Today's Big Question Former PM could 'make the difference' between losing the next election and annihilation
By The Week UK Published
-
Badenoch, Johnson or 'full Trump': who is the future of the Tory Party?
Today's Big Question Tory moderates are preparing to do battle with the right of the party in a post-Sunak leadership election
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK Published
-
It's the economy, Sunak: has 'Rishession' halted Tory fightback?
Today's Big Question PM's pledge to deliver economic growth is 'in tatters' as stagnation and falling living standards threaten Tory election wipeout
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
Stormont power-sharing in sight: 'good news' for Northern Ireland?
Talking Point Unionists vote to end two-year boycott after agreeing legislative package to address post-Brexit trading arrangements
By The Week UK Published
-
Why your local council may be going bust
The Explainer Across England, local councils are suffering from grave financial problems
By The Week UK Published