DUP and Boris Johnson bridge would slash journey times for Celtic, Rangers and Partick fans

Celtic's Odsonne Edouard scoring during the recent Old Firm derby at Ibrox.

The construction of a crossing from Antrim to Dumfries and Galloway that was originally floated by the DUP in 2015 would slash the 197 miles journey from Derry to Glasgow by about an hour and 15 minutes.

It currently takes approximately 1 hour and 32 minutes to drive the 73.3 miles from Derry to Larne and a further 2 hours and 24 minutes to complete the 95.8 mile journey from Portpatrick to Glasgow.

However, the two hour ferry crossing between Larne and Cairnryan in between means it takes over 6 hours for football supporters travelling to watch the Old Firm.

Journey times would be slashed if a bridge was built.

Should a 28 mile bridge from Larne to Portpatrick be built, an idea that was first mooted in the DUP's 2015 Westminster election manifesto and later taken up by the current British Prime Minister Boris Johnson when he was Foreign Secretary last year, the journey time would fall to just 4 hours and 41 minutes.

That's more or less the same time and distance Derry GAA fans face when they have to make the trip to Dr. Cullen Park in Carlow.

Last year Mr. Johnson's support for a bridge between Ireland and Scotland was branded ‘fantastical’ by Sinn Féin MP Órfhlaith Begley.

She said: “The vast majority of people in this area want to see the necessary improvements to the A5 happen as quickly as possible and are frustrated by the repeated delays as a result of unrepresentative legal challenges.

“On this basis of safety and priorities, it is clear that the A5 should be developed rather than indulge in fantasies such as Boris’ bridge.”