- BY Kevin Barry BSc(Hons) MRICS
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Introducing the Strangford Lough Crossing Pledge Tracker
24 October 2026 · Kevin Barry
One question for every Strangford politician
Today the campaign launches the Strangford Lough Crossing Pledge Tracker at slc-pledge-tracker.netlify.app. It is a public, sourced record of who has committed to an independent TAG-compliant feasibility study of a fixed bridge between Portaferry and Strangford, and whether that commitment is being kept.
The Assembly election in May 2027 is six months away. Both councils whose areas the Lough divides have asked the Minister for Infrastructure to fund a feasibility study, without a vote against. The Minister has written that she is “now giving consideration to this issue”. What has been missing is one public place where every commitment is written down, dated and checked.
The tracker asks the same question of every party and every candidate: will you back an independent feasibility study, and keep to it?
The pledge
Each politician is asked to sign this wording, in their own name:
“I commit to an independent TAG-compliant feasibility study of a Strangford Lough fixed crossing, costing £250,000 to £500,000, and will publicly press the Department for Infrastructure to:
- commission it as soon as possible, and before the Assembly election in May 2027;
- publish the terms of reference when it is commissioned;
- publish the full report within 12 months of commissioning; and
- give a ministerial response within 3 months of publication.”
The pledge asks for a feasibility study, not a bridge. TAG is Transport Analysis Guidance, the framework used across the UK to appraise transport schemes. It commits no one to a particular outcome, only to finding out, in public and on a timetable. The £250,000 to £500,000 range is the campaign’s estimate of the cost of the study, updated on specialist advice from industry sources; the final cost depends on the nature of the study and whether an Outline Business Case is developed. It is not a Department figure.
The tracker also measures the Department against each of the four milestones. None has yet been met.
Where things stand
Support for a feasibility study is now on the record at both councils and has drawn a written response from the Minister. Each entry below is taken from the source named beside it.
| Date | What happened | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 8 October 2026 | The Minister’s reply is reported to the Council’s Place and Prosperity Committee. | Ards and North Down Borough Council, Place and Prosperity Committee, 8 October 2026, Item 13 |
| 6 July 2026 | The Minister replies to Ards and North Down Borough Council: “I recently visited the area and met with elected representatives to hear about the case for a bridge crossing. I am now giving consideration to this issue.” | Letter from the Minister for Infrastructure, ref. COR-0360-2026, at Appendix 1 to the same Item |
| 15 April 2026 | The Chief Executive of Ards and North Down Borough Council writes to the Minister on the Council’s behalf. | As above |
| April 2026 | Newry, Mourne and Down District Council agrees unanimously to ask the Minister to “secure funding for a feasibility study into a bridge across Strangford Lough” (DUP motion, Councillor Callum Bowsie). | The Irish News, “Strangford Lough councils unite to back £300 million crossing”, 16 April 2026 |
| 5 March 2026 | Ards and North Down Borough Council’s Place and Prosperity Committee agrees unanimously to ask the Minister to prioritise funding for a study (joint DUP motion, Alderman Robert Adair and Councillor Nigel Edmund). | Newtownards Chronicle, “‘Overwhelming’ support for bridge at Strangford Lough”, 12 March 2026, p. 7 |
| 3 February 2026 | In an Assembly Adjournment debate, Michelle McIlveen MLA raises a fixed crossing. The Minister replies: “If there is good support and a strong economic case for it, why not? I am happy to keep that under review, albeit it is budget-dependent.” | Northern Ireland Assembly, Official Report, 3 February 2026, “Storm Impact: A20 Portaferry Road” |
In the same debate the Minister said: “Members will know that the feasibility of a bridge has been looked at. Like anything, we can keep that under review. A significant cost has been suggested: I think that the figure is in and around £300 million and potentially more.”
How the tracker works
The tracker follows 12 people. Six are declared candidates for Strangford in May 2027, and each is sent the pledge: Nick Mathison and Vicky Moore (Alliance), Richard Smart (UUP), Chris Hazzard (Sinn Féin), Jonathan Jackson (TUV) and Gareth Burns (Independent). Two are sitting MLAs who have not yet declared, Michelle McIlveen and Harry Harvey (DUP), and will be sent it if they stand. The other four are tracked for their public record only: Kellie Armstrong and Mike Nesbitt, who are not standing again, Jim Shannon MP, and the Minister for Infrastructure as the decision-maker. New candidates are added as they declare. At launch, none has signed the pledge and two are on record supporting a study.
Every status is defined before it is used, so the rules cannot be argued about afterwards:
- Signed: has signed and published the pledge in their own name.
- On record: has publicly supported a feasibility study, with a source, but has not yet signed.
- Not yet signed: the starting status for everyone. It is not a criticism.
- Slipping: signed, but no public action pressing for the feasibility study for three months. A missed Department date is recorded against the Department, not against signatories.
- Withdrawn: has dropped the pledge or voted against a motion for the feasibility study.
- Considering: used only for the Minister and the Department, while no decision has been made.
“No public statement found” means exactly that: we have not found one. It does not mean the person opposes a feasibility study.
Every entry links to its source. Any politician, candidate or party can sign, correct their entry or add a source, and every correction is published with the date of the change. The tracker reports only what is on the public record. It does not endorse or oppose any party or candidate.
What you can do
- Look up your representatives on the Pledge Tracker and see where each one stands.
- Ask them one question, by email, at a surgery or on the doorstep: will you sign the pledge for an independent TAG-compliant feasibility study?
- Send us what you find. A public statement, a council vote or a reply to a constituent can all be added, with a source, through the campaign at strangfordloughcrossing.org.
For scale: in 2023/24 the Strangford ferry’s operating costs were £3.52 million against income of £1.43 million (Department for Infrastructure, FOI response DFI/2024-0366, 9 October 2024). On the campaign’s arithmetic, that is a net operating cost of about £2.09 million, so even the top of the study’s estimated cost is less than three months of it. Finding out should not depend on which party wins in May, and signing the pledge is how every candidate can show that it does not.
Promoted by Kevin Barry, 18a Tullymally Road, Portaferry, Co. Down BT22 1JX, on behalf of the Strangford Lough Crossing Campaign. Published by Quintin QS.
Sources
Strangford Lough Crossing Pledge Tracker, version 1.1, 24 October 2026.
Northern Ireland Assembly, Official Report (Hansard), Tuesday 3 February 2026, Adjournment debate “Storm Impact: A20 Portaferry Road”, pp. 69 to 71.
Ards and North Down Borough Council, Place and Prosperity Committee, 8 October 2026, Item 13, “Update report on Notice of Motion 705: Strangford Bridge Update”, with Appendix 1, letter from the Minister for Infrastructure, ref. COR-0360-2026, dated 6 July 2026.
Newtownards Chronicle, “‘Overwhelming’ support for bridge at Strangford Lough”, Julie Waters, 12 March 2026, p. 7.
Department for Infrastructure, Freedom of Information response DFI/2024-0366, 9 October 2024, Table 1: Annual Ferry Operating costs, Income and Capital costs.
Strangford Lough Crossing Campaign, feasibility study cost update, based on specialist advice from industry sources.