Ards and North Down Councillors have said an application for coastal erosion funding from the Dublin government was asking unionists to “collaborate in an all Ireland economy”.
Ards and North Down Council agreed to back an application done in tandem with another Northern Ireland council and two councils in the Republic for money from the Taoiseach Office’s Shared Island Fund - to fight coastal erosion.
Independent Unionist Councillor Tom Smith told the chamber: “On the face of it this proposal looks fairly benign, and in one sense it is - it is about coastal erosion. When it comes to Northern Ireland and the Republic working together on mutually beneficial projects I have no objection.
