Ards and North Down Councillors have said an application for coastal erosion funding from the Dublin government was asking unionists to “collaborate in an all Ireland economy”.
Ards and North Down Council agreed to back an application done in tandem with another Northern Ireland council and two councils in the Republic for money from the Taoiseach Office’s Shared Island Fund - to fight coastal erosion.
Independent Unionist Councillor Tom Smith told the chamber: “On the face of it this proposal looks fairly benign, and in one sense it is - it is about coastal erosion. When it comes to Northern Ireland and the Republic working together on mutually beneficial projects I have no objection.
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“What I do have an objection to in this case is where this funding is coming from. The Shared Island Initiative, which is a lot of nonsense from the Irish government. If there is one thing that we have seen from the Irish government in the last few years, is that they along with the rest of nationalism don’t give a flying flute about the concerns of unionists and unionism.
“They talk about the Belfast Agreement - the heart of that agreement is about unionists and nationalists working together, and only by working together can we work things forward. The Irish government doesn’t even try to hide their objectives behind this initiative. They are very clear - the initiative is to develop an all island economy.
“The term is 'all island' but it is an 'all Ireland' economy. It needs more than just cooperation, it needs harmonisation, and that is what we have seen with the protocol.
"We are not only trapped in an EU single market, we are trapped in an Irish single market. Food comes from the Republic of Ireland into Northern Ireland without any checks. We have checks coming from our own country.”
Applications are currently available to northern councils to avail of the Dublin government’s Shared Island Fund, with up to €250 million to be spent in NI councils. Decisions will be made on the applications later this summer.
Ards and North Down Council has agreed to partner with Newry, Mourne and Down Council, as well as the County Councils of Meath and Louth, the NI Coastal Forum, and the Office of Public Works in the Republic to apply for the fund, to be used to fight coastal erosion. An Ards and North Down report states the fund would be used to “appoint suitably qualified and experienced experts to develop a capital project proposal that aimed to explore innovative and sustainable options for coastal erosion management across the four council areas north and south of the border”.
Councillor Smith said: “As far as I am concerned I don’t know why any unionist would want to be involved in this fund in any shape or form. One of the arguments is “well this is money here.”
“Of course it is money. But it is how they reel you in, slowly but surely, bit by bit. It is done under the auspices of the Shared Island Initiative - which calls for us to be collaborators in an all Ireland economy. And that is something as a unionist I will certainly not be part of. I want to build an all UK economy.
“We have a Stormont department that is responsible for coastal erosion - where are they? I think it says a lot when we have to go cap in hand to the Irish government for funding for something that is our responsibility, and it shows how useless the house on the hill really is.”
Traditional Unionist Voice Councillor Stephen Cooper said at the council meeting: “I concur wholeheartedly with Councillor Tom Smith on the Shared Island Initiative. This is a continuation of the intrusion of the EU and Irish Republic, a foreign government further seeking to harmonise, and develop an all island economy. And for the record it is not the Good Friday Agreement it is the Belfast Agreement.”
The Republic’s government says the initiative and fund “aims to harness the full potential of the Good Friday Agreement to enhance cooperation, connection and mutual understanding on the island and engage with all communities and traditions to build consensus around a shared future”. In October 2020, the Taoiseach Micheál Martin set out the government’s vision and priorities for the Shared Island initiative in an online address.
The initiative involves the Dublin government working with the Northern Ireland Executive and the British Government to “address strategic challenges faced on the island of Ireland” as well as “further developing the all island economy, deepening North/South cooperation, and investing in the North West and border regions,” according to the gov.ie website.
The initiative also aims to “foster constructive and inclusive dialogue, and a comprehensive programme of research to support the building of consensus around a shared future on the island.”
After the Taoiseach made the announcement about the initiative, the Shared Island Fund was announced in the Irish Budget 2021, with €500m in capital funding available between 2021-25, ring-fenced for investment in collaborative North/South projects.
The Ards and North Down Council report states: “The Shared Island and Peace Plus grant programmes provide a unique and welcome opportunity to collaborate efficiently and effectively on a subject which is of huge importance to coastal authorities both north and south of the border.”
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