The idea of a "Boris Bridge", or "Boris Burrow", linking Northern Ireland to the rest of the UK has left people dreaming of a quick drive to Scotland for a shopping trip - but getting a train to Enniskillen hasn't been an option since 1957.
Northern Ireland's transport infrastructure has always been found wanting. The M1 motorway ends at Dungannon, a motorway doesn't exist between our two main cities, Belfast and Londonderry, and we can't drive directly to Dublin from Belfast.
Then there is the issue of our railway links. If you are lucky enough to live in a town with a train station, you have the hit the jackpot. If you live west of the River Bann, then you are in trouble.
Fancy a day-trip to Omagh on the train? No joy. How about a day out to beautiful Enniskillen, or a spot of shopping in Cookstown? You will have to drive.
And we still haven't mentioned our links to some of the Republic of Ireland's main cities or beauty spots. You are in for an awful long train journey to Sligo via Dublin, while scenic Donegal is off the railway grid.
Top-class roads and railway links are essential in attracting the investment needed to support the growth of the local economy, while any new infrastructure investments will be subject to robust sustainability tests so environmental, social and governance objectives must also be considered.
Infrastructure Minister Nichola Mallon said it is "absolutely" right that Northern Ireland's transport infrastructure should be put ahead of a bridge or tunnel in the Irish Sea.
Economics journalist Paul Gosling believes if the funding spent on a bridge or burrow was instead put into infrastructure, here it would "revolutionise" the country.
He shared his frustration over the closure of the train lines in Londonderry in the 1960s, which helped connect the west of Northern Ireland, as well as towns and cities in the south.
"The infrastructure across the north doesn't work," says Gosling. "Even in Belfast it doesn't work, because you need the York Street interchange.
"Beyond Belfast and over to the West, it's really very poor. The A6 upgrade deals with a lot of things, but the train service is still very slow."
Wesley Johnston, a commentator on Northern Ireland's roads and motorways, felt it shouldn't come down to either improving our transport infrastructure or Boris's Burrow, as both would be welcomed.
He adds, however, that the Irish Sea tunnel is intended to "be a bit of a distraction" for unionist politicians in the wake of the Northern Ireland Protocol.
Mr Johnston said that, instead of a bridge or tunnel, it would be better to introduce a subsidised ferry to Scotland, which would cost less and the public would avail of the benefits much more quickly.
Meanwhile, Mr Gosling said air passenger duty on flights between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK should be scrapped.
Mr Johnston says: "In terms of our transport infrastructure, things that would make a significant difference to us here would be completing the dual carriageway to Derry, completing the York Street interchange and there are a few towns I think would really strongly benefit from bypasses - Enniskillen, Ballynahinch and Cookstown.
"There are no railways in the West. We have quite slow rail services to Derry and we don't have railway stations at either of our two main airports in the Belfast area, or indeed City of Derry Airport, for that matter. Those are things that could be done."
Looking back on why the West's transport infrastructure was generally ignored in the past, Gosling said it came down to "raw sectarian bias" and the UK Government's spending rules, which were geared towards making the best economic areas perform better.
"It meant that places like London had more money to be even better and places like Newcastle (Upon Tyne) didn't have the same level of financial support to make them perform better," he explains. "The same thing applies to Northern Ireland.
"If you're looking for a cost/benefit outcome, then it always feels as if you're going to get the best outcome by putting more money into things in Belfast rather than trying to get places like Derry and Strabane to perform better.
"In my opinion, if you put more money into the infrastructure in places like Derry, then actually you wouldn't have to worry quite so much about providing financial support for people without jobs, because you'd actually be creating more jobs.
"Those rules have changed in England and that should mean that, in the future, it becomes easier to justify expenditure in the West than it would have been in the past."
Mr Johnston adds that, during the Troubles, Stormont tended to focus on building and approving roads in the most congested areas, which naturally drifted towards greater Belfast.
"There are different ways of prioritising transport infrastructure; one is sort of the approach the Republic of Ireland has taken - to build roads where they're not necessarily needed in the hope it will improve economic activity," he adds. "Or you can go for a more responsive approach and just look at where the bottlenecks are and upgrade those.
"We've generally followed the second one of those in Northern Ireland, which has tended to stagnate. That has changed over the past 10 years, the Executive has definitely been prioritising roads like the A4, the A6 and the A5. You're seeing a lot of this catch up development in the West now."
Mallon, the Infrastructure Minister, expressed her absolute commitment to tackling regional imbalance by investing in infrastructure projects. She outlined that an agreement has already been reached with the Republic's transport minister, Eamon Ryan, to extend the high-speed rail feasibility study into the North West as "we seek to create a spine of connectivity across our island".
Referrring to the imbalance in transport projects in the West of Northern Ireland, compared to areas such as Belfast, the Minister said there is "no doubt" the West is less provided for.
"Since taking up office, I have been clear that my priority is addressing regional imbalance and better connecting communities while tackling the climate emergency," adds Mallon.
Projects such as the A6 route construction, where the Randalstown to Castledawson scheme is nearing completion and the Dungiven to Drumahoe route will be finished in 2022, represents an investment of £400m.
Mallon added that the A5 project has been subject to three separate legal challenges since its inception in 2007 - most recently in 2020.
After receiving an interim report from the inspector, her department has sought legal advice and she explained that it will only be possible to provide a timeline for delivery of the project after careful consideration.
Elsewhere, Mallon's ambition to improve rail services in the North West to enhance connectivity is providing green shoots of hope.
"Last year, I committed to a new feasibility study to get phase three of the Derry to Coleraine rail line back on track and I have ring-fenced funding for that work to be done at pace," she says.
"I have also commissioned a separate study to explore the options of new halts and associated park-and-ride facilities at Strathfoyle, Eglinton/City of Derry Airport and Ballykelly. This new study will also examine the possibility of introducing half-hourly services on the Derry to Belfast line. I have been working closely with the Minister for Transport, Eamon Ryan TD, and was pleased to announce with him in November that Derry will be included in the all-island high-speed rail feasibility study. This will ensure that opportunities that better connect our island, drive economic growth, investment and allow for greener, cleaner travel are inclusive and extended to the North West."
On a wider scale, the Infrastructure Minister is developing a Regional Strategic Transport Network Transport Plan, which aims to set out future investment and improvement for Northern Ireland's strategic transport networks by road, rail and bus. It is hoped that can go to public consultation later this year. She also outlined plans for the Portadown to Armagh rail project and a North West transport plan, which will recommend schemes on how to improve the movement of people and goods in the Londonderry area.
If the Executive was given the chance to start Northern Ireland's rail and road networks again, Johnston explained that you would look at what you wanted to move - people or goods - and why.
He also highlighted that reducing the dependence on commuting by car would be vital.
"You would then develop a transport policy for that," he says. "We only build roads because people are using vehicles.
"Especially in the cities, you would very much want to discourage commuting by car. At the same time, you would also recognise that goods are far more efficiently transported, by and large, by lorry. People living in rural areas would need the road networks, so you would want to make sure that you have decent road links between the major towns and that you had a regional balance with that as well."
