Engineers' think-tank envisages sub-sea link with Wales by 2050

A sub-sea tunnel between Co Wexford and Pembroke in Wales, and a second Dublin Port at Loughshinny in north Co Dublin, are among several major infrastructural projects envisaged in a report on transport in Ireland in 2050.

The report, drafted by a think-tank of leading Irish engineers, presents a novel vision of how Irish infrastructure could develop if current rates of population growth and economic development continue.

Mr Liam Connellan, president of the Irish Academy of Engineering, which produced the report, said it sought "to stimulate debate on a possible framework for transport planning on the island for 2050".

The report, a copy of which has been presented to the Minster for Transport, Mr Cullen, suggests that the concentration of world manufacturing in Asia will lead to a demand for major new freight ports capable of facilitating huge container ships.

It is envisaged that the Shannon estuary will emerge as a major freight depot for Europe, connected by a high-speed rail line to the "Tuskar tunnel", the imagined new link between Ireland and the UK.

The report also envisages the provision of high-speed rail routes connecting Belfast, Dublin, Waterford and Cork to British and continental systems, and the overall development of the rail network including a Western rail corridor from Derry to Limerick with connections to Cork and Waterford, together with an urban commuter rail.

On a more worrying note, the engineers expect major implications for coastal cities arising from global warming, and an anticipated sea-level rise of 0.4 m by 2050.

The report says such a rise will require dyke and tidal barriers for Dublin, Cork and Belfast.

In Dublin, such barriers are earmarked for a stretch of the coast between Sutton and Dún Laoghaire. The report says these would provide a convenient alignment and route for completing the long-promised Eastern bypass, connecting with the M50 motorway.

The report also envisages the emergence of a western economic corridor driven by the development of new road and rail connections between Derry, Sligo, Galway, Limerick and Cork.

This expectation is based, however, on balanced regional development remaining "a major goal of Government and policymakers".

The report anticipates that the population will approach eight million by 2050, when there will be an expected four million cars, one for every two people.

Mr Connellan said the report "is not a forecast about what will happen but a vision of what may be the case". It was better to build towards a particular vision rather than "go along blithely" without taking possible future developments into account.

"While it's a long timeframe, it is reasonably relevant to today," he added. "The first time motorways were thought of was in the mid-1940s and we are only getting round to building them now."