The President of the European Commission, Mr Romano Prodi, was given a bird's-eye view yesterday of a €2.5 billion investment in Limerick waterfront projects by the President of the European Parliament, Mr Pat Cox.
Mr Prodi was taken on a guided helicopter tour by Mr Cox of Limerick's environs as part of a briefing on an ambitious initiative to develop a new cityscape based around the Shannon river.
The Limerick Riverside City Project, launched by Mr Cox last year, is a major partnership project by Shannon Development, Limerick City Council, Limerick and Clare County Councils, Shannon Foynes Port Company, the University of Limerick and Waterways Ireland.
The 15-year project, costing an estimated €2.5 billion and creating up to 10,000 jobs, envisages a river-based cityscape extending from the new fourth river crossing as far as the university on the other side of the city.
Work on the construction of the crossing, a tunnel under the Shannon, is due to begin next year with a scheduled completion date of 2009.
Following other public engagements an honorary doctorate was conferred on Mr Prodi at the University of Limerick.
Speaking at the conferring ceremony, the Chancellor of the University of Limerick, Mr Seán Donlon, said it was appropriate that Mr Prodi should be honoured in the city.
"Directly and indirectly the university has, since its establishment, been the beneficiary of EU policies, he said. Mr Prodi, who was appointed President of the European Commission in 1999, is a law graduate of the Catholic University of Milan. He also studied at Bologna and the London School of Economics.