Sinéad McLaughlin hails Dublin support for expansion of third level education in Derry

She said it was something the SDLP has been demanding at Stormont for 'many decades' and called for further north south cooperation at higher level.

"Our future has to be outward-looking and focused on external trade and improving our productivity by investing in skills and infrastructure. We can do the best by embedding our relationships with the South. We need an all-island economy that builds infrastructure and prosperity," she said, after the Assembly was recalled this week to discuss the Brexit and coronavirus crises.

"The reality is that Brexit will be the basis of much greater all-island cooperation and partnership. We will increasingly have a much stronger all-island economy, and that is to be welcomed.

"We would like to take the opportunity also to strengthen our other all-island partnerships, especially in health and education. I particularly thank the Irish Government for their commitment to supporting the expansion of higher education in Derry, something that my party has been calling for from the Assembly for many decades," she declared.