The Taoiseach has said that he hopes investment in an Ulster University campus will strengthen cross-border links, while another senior minister said it sought to deliver on the campaigning of John Hume.
Leo Varadkar insisted that there was “no ulterior motive” to 44.5 million euro being provided to build a new 5,000 metre squared teaching and student services building on Ulster University’s Magee campus.
This is part of the Irish Government’s 56 million euro funding from the Shared Island Fund, aimed at cross-border investments.
Minister for further and higher education Simon Harris said that the investment see more lecture and seminar spaces, computer labs, and on-campus student services.
“It’s also going mean we increase the number of students on the campus by 1,250,” he said, adding that the plans had been in the works for a number of years, but the funding allowed Ulster University to “press go”.
“This is not the end of our engagement, far from it. We’re very keen to continue to work to find and identify partnership opportunities for education in the northwest of these islands.
“And I know one of the areas that we’re going to work very closely on is this idea of cross-border professor appointments between Ulster University and Atlantic Technological University.
He added: “I think we all think of the legacy of John Hume today, a man who, for so many years, highlighted the need for real education opportunity in Derry and I think today is a very significant step forward to try to achieve that dream.”
Speaking at Government Buildings in Dublin on Tuesday, Mr Varadkar said that the funding was part of the New Decade, New Approach agreement that aimed to restore powersharing institutions in Northern Ireland after a three-year hiatus.
“So, long before there was a Shared Island Unit, we were making a contribution to infrastructure projects that benefit Northern Ireland, but also has a cross-border element as well, and Shared Island really is the development of that.
“And I’m very straightforward, very genuine about this: there’s no ulterior motive here. We’re doing this because we want there to be more north-south cooperation. We want more cross-border cooperation.
“We want for example, to have a much bigger university campus in Derry, that students from all over the island, and people from Britain and other parts of the world, come to and I hope that happens.
“We want to improve connectivity, whether it’s the Dublin Belfast railway line, whether it’s the A5, and these are things that benefit Northern Ireland.
“These are things that benefit people in Ireland as a whole and that’s why we’re doing them.”
Tanaiste Micheal Martin said: “The Shared Island initiative is not a short-term project with a fixed end date, rather it’s an idea and a set of principles that will continue to underpin the approach of the government on building relationships, enhancing connectivity and driving prosperity on our island.
“Our commitment to one billion euro up to 2030 demonstrates a determination to make a positive difference – but it does not and cannot end there.”
A new youth forum will also be set up as part of the Shared Island initiative, which will ask 80 young people both north and south of the border to set out their vision for the island from September.
