[fosters son]

Continuing the theme

Do you think we Should invest money in linking the UK and Ireland with a Road Bridge?

Please Discuss
Thanks

 

[tayser]

No.

 

[Vertighost]

Surely a tunnel would be a better idea (I believe such plans have been mooted).

 

[crawf]

No!!!

a waste of money and time IMO

 

[JDRS]

How about a high speed rail tunnel that connects to a greater high speed UK rail network?

Well we can hope...

 

[NothingBetterToDo]

no, its not worth the money

the fast ferry from Hollyhead to Dublin takes 1 hour.........it would be much more cost effective to build high speed rail lines to Hollyhead.....and use the Fast Ferry to cover the ocean leg of the journey.

Other than that?? where else could a road brige/tunnel be built between Ireland/Uk????

 

[Ntn_Rawlings]

it wouldent be profitable, but politically it would be quite significant unifying the countries of the united kingdom (provided the bridge was to northern ireland) It would deafinately greatly improve the economy of northern ireland and probably even southern ireland but overall it would be extremely unlikely to pay for itself as so few people live in ireland

 

[samsonyuen]

A tunnel would be neat, but really expensive.

 

[woodhousen]

i cant see how this would really be viable.....the closest point i think is from northern ireland to scotland i believe???

what is the point of spend money on a bridge that leads from one low eceonomic area to an area of decining population.....?

the only way it would have major benefits for irland is if it went direct to london.....which would obviously impossible......this is why the chunnel was such a success

 

[Andrew]

It probably isnt worth the money but it would still be awesome if it happened. I'd love to see high speed rail or maglev running down the east coast of Ireland down from Dublin, through a rail/road tunnel and then following the Great Western railway / m4 corridor route though Wales' major cities, then to Bristol and all major stops into London! That would be absolutely awesome, however a tunnel along that route would be longer than the Channel Tunnel and I doubt is likely happen in our lifetimes.
The best bet is probably to invest more in air and sea transport.

 

[Cabman]

Why not one word? RYANAIR. If budget airlines were around in the eighties the chunnel would never have been built. Freight by sea and people by air no need for a tunnel or bridge. Nice idea but 100% non starter.

 

[woodhousen]

although the governments aim for reducing carbon emissions....and with the plan being the most un-environmentally friendly way to travel, compared to busses being thr best....its clear to see the governemtn could stand to win a lot of political support

 

[maggie]

Why not one word? RYANAIR. If budget airlines were around in the eighties the chunnel would never have been built. Freight by sea and people by air no need for a tunnel or bridge. Nice idea but 100% non starter.

hmm i think the channel tunnel was a brilliant idea, london needs the rail link with mainland europe

 

[Leeds No.1]

Difference being Chunnel links London with Paris and Brussels- major European and world cities, and links it up with a whole continent. An Ireland tunnel/bridge would just link to a rather small capital with not much importance outside of Ireland or Europe (Dublin) and really would just be the last branch on a European network. Is it really feasible anyway? Certainly not as a road...

 

[potto]

well something like a bridge or tunnel is an investment over a long period of time, say 300-400 years. I would find it inconceivable that in that time the mass movement of people and goods, spreading knowledge and expertise would not be even more important than it is now. All the evidence points to the fact that remote communication eg the internet merely aids the spread of knowledge rather than replaces the importance of physically moving humans about.

Ferries work to a limited extent but with the advent of air travel they have been overshadowed in terms of convenience opening up the destination to more and more people. However air travel is a seriously unsustainable mode of transport and budget airlines are just magnifying that. Given that technology-wise propulsion technology in air and space travel is at a dead end then we must look to other-areas of transport technology that are moving forward, high speed rail and the hydrogen fuel cell.

If the full impact of air travel were calculated in the cost of running the service then some sort of electric mass transport over a bridge or tunnel would become a necessity!

Would Ireland benefit? Most evidence points to the fact that opening up previously poorly connected areas just brings them into the range of the traditional strong economic centres and therefore results in a drain that re-inforces the status-quo but it also could drive the economcic centres in Ireland to diversify and specialise. Ultimately you need to invest in human knowledge to protect yourself when being opened up and if you can offer something unique then the knowledge in the from of the physical movement of humans will come to you bringing with it the dilution of the traditional cultural identity.

 

[Accura4Matalan]

No.
Ireland isnt valuable enough in terms of benefitting our economy to build something that expensive. White elephant.

 

[Manchester Planner]

Why bother? Ireland (the island) has a population of only 6 million or so. Pointless.

 

[BenL]

It's just over 4 million.

But the second richest country in the EU by GDP/Capita

 

[BenL]

It's just over 4 million.

But the second richest country in the EU by GDP/Capita.

Edit: Double posted, how can I delete the second post?

 

[samsonyuen]

^No, the Republic is 4.1 million, and Northern Ireland is 1.7 million.

Unfortunately, you can't delete posts, you can only edit them.