Sir, – Boris Johnson has suggested that a bridge between Northern Ireland and Scotland is a "very interesting idea", declaring: "Watch this space" ("Varadkar: Bridge between North and Scotland 'worth examining' but UK must pay", News, December 26th).
Leo Varadkar rejected the British prime minister’s strange proposal that the EU would pay for the bridge, rightly saying: “So that’s definitely not going to happen, because neither Northern Ireland or Scotland are going to be in the EU”.
Mr Johnson is no stranger to eccentric and unfulfilled “big ideas”. As London mayor he was responsible for an unbuilt airport scheme known as “Boris Island”, and an absurd “garden bridge” vanity project that was abandoned after wasting £43 million of taxpayers’ money.
Mr Varadkar was clearly being careful not to offend anyone when commenting on Mr Johnson’s idea of a bridge across the North Channel.
But he would also be well advised to take Boris Johnson’s improbable notion with a large pinch of salt. – Yours, etc,
JOE McCARTHY,
Arbour Hill,
Dublin 7.