#INLAND WATERWAYS - RTÉ News reports that An Bord Pleanála and NI Environment Minister Alex Attwood have granted planning permission for a new cross-border bridge spanning the River Newry near Carlingford Lough.

The single carriageway cable bridge will be 660 metres in length, with most of the funds required being sought from the EU`s €30 million fund for development in border regions. It is hoped to be completed and open to traffic by 2015.

The bridge will cross the river at Narrow Water, an area once notorious for an IRA ambush in 1979 that saw 18 British soldiers killed in a series of explosions.

It will also be able to open to allow tall ships and other vessels to access Victoria Lock and Albert Basin in nearby Newry.

Quoted in the Irish Independent is Pamela Arthurs, who helped lead the project on behalf of both Louth and Down county councils, who said the bridge was first mooted as far back as 1976.

"This has been a major project but it is not just about the fact that we will have a bridge, it is what it symbolises in how far we have come as a country," she said.

Minister Attwood also hailed the project as improving accessibility in a region of substantial natural beauty.

"It will be a great economic boost for the area, creating construction jobs in the short term, enhance tourism and promote greater community interaction across the border," he added.

The Irish Independent has more on the story HERE.