The Senator George Mitchell Peace Bridge (informally called the Peace Bridge or Aghalane Bridge) is a road bridge across the border of Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. It carries the A509 / N3 road between Enniskillen in County Fermanagh and Cavan in County Cavan. The bridge spans the Woodford River (Irish: Sruth Gráinne, meaning 'the Gravelly Stream' or 'the Gravelly River', sometimes anglicised as the River Gráinne or the Graine River).
The bridge replaces an earlier structure to the east, known as Aghalane Bridge, carrying an 'approved road' over the border with formal custom patrols. [1] Aghalane Bridge was named after Aghalane (Irish: Achadh Leathan, meaning 'Broad Field'), a townland on the County Fermanagh side. [2] This older bridge, which also spanned the Woodford River, was destroyed on 21 November 1972 by Ulster Loyalists during The Troubles. No paramilitary group has ever claimed responsibility for the bombing. [3]
It was quickly replaced by a temporary bridge, but following the detonation of a bomb in the nearby market town of Belturbet the following month, the British Government decided to leave the bridge in a state of disrepair and demolish the temporary structure. [4] The lack of a crossing cut off access to farmland in southern Fermanagh from Belturbet. Local traffic had to undertake a 12-mile (19 km) detour, severing communities and leading to economic decline in the area, with many businesses in Belturbet closing. [5]
The current bridge opened in April 1999. It is 30 metres (98 ft) long, with 15 metres (49 ft) in County Fermanagh and the remainder in County Cavan, and was named after the United States Special Envoy for Northern Ireland, George J. Mitchell, who acted as chairman in the Irish peace process talks that led to the Good Friday Agreement the previous year. [6] Of the proposed £1,930,720 cost, £1,061,250 was pledged to be funded by the EU Special Support Programme for Peace and Reconciliation. [3] [5] There is a statue near the bridge on the County Cavan side commemorating the peace process, with the inscription "Peace For All". [7] [8]
County Cavan is a county in Ireland. It is in the province of Ulster and is part of the Northern and Western Region. It is named after the town of Cavan and is based on the historic Gaelic territory of East Breffny (Bréifne). Cavan County Council is the local authority for the county, which had a population of 81,201 at the 2022 census.
Clones is a small town in western County Monaghan, Ireland. The area is part of the Border Region, earmarked for economic development by the Irish Government due to its currently below-average economic situation. The town was badly hit economically by the Partition of Ireland in 1921 because of its location on the border with County Fermanagh in Northern Ireland. The creation of the Irish border deprived it of access to a large part of its economic hinterland for many years. The town had a population of 1,680 at the 2016 census.
The N3 road is a national primary road in the Republic of Ireland, running between Dublin, Cavan and the border with County Fermanagh. The A509 and A46 roads in Northern Ireland form part of an overall route connecting to Enniskillen, and northwest to the border again where the N3 reappears to serve Ballyshannon in County Donegal.
The Republic of Ireland–United Kingdom border, sometimes referred to as the Irish border or British–Irish border, runs for 499 km (310 mi) from Lough Foyle in the north-west of Ireland to Carlingford Lough in the north-east, separating the Republic of Ireland from Northern Ireland.
Ballyconnell is a town in County Cavan, Ireland. It is situated on the N87 national secondary road at the junction of four townlands: Annagh, Cullyleenan, Doon (Tomregan) and Derryginny in the parish of Tomregan, Barony of Tullyhaw.
Belturbet is a town in County Cavan, Ireland. It lies on the N3 road, around 14 km (8.7 mi) north of Cavan town and 123 km (76 mi) from Dublin. It is also located around 4 km (2.5 mi) south of the border with Northern Ireland, between the counties of Cavan and Fermanagh, and 36 km (22 mi) from Enniskillen.
Butlersbridge, also Butler's Bridge, is a village in County Cavan in Ireland, 5 km (3 mi) north of Cavan town just off the N3 national primary road. It was previously a through-point on the N3, but was bypassed in 1999. The bridge in the village crosses the River Annalee, a tributary of the River Erne. Butlersbridge Church is dedicated to the local St. Aiden. It is about 9 km (6 mi) via the N54 to the border with County Fermanagh in Northern Ireland.
The A509 is a road in Northern Ireland. It travels through County Fermanagh and continues to Cavan and Dublin in the Republic of Ireland as the N3.
Castle Saunderson is a castle near Belturbet in County Cavan, Ireland. It was the former family seat of the Saunderson family, and is now in ruins. The Finn River flows along the north-eastern edge of the Castle Saunderson Demesne, where the river enters a narrow channel of Upper Lough Erne. The castle is about a half a mile west from Wattlebridge, a small hamlet in the south-south-east of County Fermanagh.
The Shannon–Erne Waterway is a canal linking the River Shannon in the Republic of Ireland with the River Erne in Northern Ireland. Managed by Waterways Ireland, the canal is 63 km (39 mi) in length, has sixteen locks and runs from Leitrim village in County Leitrim to Upper Lough Erne in County Fermanagh.
The N54 is a national secondary road in the Republic of Ireland connecting the towns of Monaghan and Cavan, crossing the Republic of Ireland–United Kingdom border several times. It is in three sections, separated by two sections in Northern Ireland classified as parts of the A3.
The N87 road is a national secondary road in the north of County Cavan, Ireland.
Aghindisert is a townland in the civil parish of Tomregan, in County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland. It is situated within the former barony of Knockninny.
Garvary is a townland in the Civil Parish of Tomregan, Barony of Knockninny, County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland. (Disambiguation- see also Garvary townland, County Cavan, Republic of Ireland.)
Gortineddan is a townland in the Civil Parish of Tomregan, Barony of Knockninny, County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland.
Gortmullan, or Gortmullen, is a townland in the Civil Parish of Tomregan, Barony of Knockninny, County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland.
Knockateggal is a townland in the Civil Parish of Tomregan, Barony of Knockninny, County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland.
The Belturbet bombing occurred on 28 December 1972 when a car bomb planted by Loyalist paramilitaries exploded in the main street in the border town of Belturbet in County Cavan in the Republic of Ireland. The bomb killed two teenagers Geraldine O'Reilly (15) and Patrick Stanley (16). Nobody claimed responsibility for the bombing but security services believe the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) carried out the attack. The attack happened just a few weeks after two people were killed and 127 injured when two car bombs exploded in the centre of Dublin, Republic of Ireland on 1 December 1972. On the same day as the Belturbet bombing, two other bombs exploded in border counties, the first in Clones, County Monaghan which injured two people and the second in Pettigo in County Donegal which caused no deaths or injuries. The three bombs all exploded within 49 minutes of each other.
The Finn River, also known as the River Finn, is a small river that flows through parts of County Fermanagh and parts of County Monaghan in the south of Ulster, the northern province in Ireland. In certain places, the river forms part of the boundary between County Fermanagh, which is part of Northern Ireland, and County Monaghan, which is part of the Republic of Ireland. Two very short stretches of the river, just north of Redhills and at Castle Saunderson, near Belturbet, also form part of the boundary between County Fermanagh and County Cavan. This means that some stretches of the river form part of the border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, these short stretches also forming part of the external border of the European Union.
Wattlebridge, sometimes written as Wattle Bridge, is a small hamlet in the south-south-east of County Fermanagh in Northern Ireland. The hamlet is located almost 3½ miles south of the village of Newtownbutler. The hamlet is in a region known unofficially as South Ulster.