Britain ‘open’ to working with Irish Government on cross-border projects, says UK transport secretary

The British government is “open” to working with the Irish Government on significant cross-Border infrastructure projects, the UK transport secretary has said.

However, Mark Harper added that such projects “ought to be led by the devolved government” at Stormont and emphasised London’s commitment to the restoration of the Northern Executive and Assembly.

In an interview with The Irish Times, Mr Harper said “one of the reasons for wanting to get the devolved institutions back up and running, and the way, I think, the British government sees devolution working is, clearly, we would want to be a partner in those things. But I think those things are best led by politicians elected here in Northern Ireland accountable to people in Northern Ireland.

Zero-emission vessels

“Clearly if they were wanting to do projects cross-Border with the Irish Government and that required the British government to partner with them on those, clearly we’d partner with them on those,” said Mr Harper.

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“We’d certainly be open to looking at things, if there was a proposal from the Northern Ireland government, when it’s reconstituted, to work with the Irish Government and there was a role for the British government of course we’d look at that.”

Mr Harper was speaking during a visit to Artemis Technologies in Belfast on Tuesday to announce a £60 million (€68 million) investment in UK firms by the British government in green energy technology to help decarbonise the maritime industry.

A total of £6 million will go to a company, based on Belfast Lough, which is developing electric-powered, zero-emission vessels that “fly” above the water and are more environmentally friendly than conventional boats.

Last year the firm announced plans for a new “flying” passenger ferry between Belfast and Bangor, due to begin operation in 2024.

However, the founder of Artemis Technologies, Dr Iain Percy, warned the service could be delayed if the Northern Assembly and Executive remain suspended, as ferries are not covered in the relevant legislation, and it cannot be amended without a sitting government.

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On Tuesday an attempt to nominate a speaker — the first step to restoring the powersharing institutions — failed as expected, despite calls from other parties for the DUP to return to government in order to pass the secondary legislation required to implement so-called Daithí’s Law which would introduce an opt-out system of organ donation.

The DUP is boycotting the North’s political institutions as part of its protest against the Northern Ireland protocol.

Dr Percy said the ferry service would be “transformative” for public transport and the environment but while “everyone’s in agreement that it’s the right way forward, unfortunately through a historical fact of the legislation, it can’t move ahead as part of the public service provision”,

It would be “of benefit to the business”, he said, if Stormont was restored.

Innovative technologies

While in the North, the transport secretary also toured the Harland and Wolff shipyard and visited Co Antrim firm Wrightbus, which sells zero-emission buses across Ireland and the UK.

He said Northern Ireland was “at the front of a lot of these innovative technologies” and there was a “real opportunity” to develop these.

“There’s clearly a lot of skills here ... a lot of work with local universities, lots of different commercial partners, and you get to a point where you get a critical mass of a skilled workforce,” he said.

Belfast “has a proud history in the maritime sector over decades and it would be fantastic if it was at the cutting edge of low-carbon or zero-emission maritime technology developments in the future”.