Achieving peace in Ireland was a major driving force behind the economic boom in the Republic, Minister for Finance Brian Cowen told an audience in Northern Ireland yesterday.

Addressing a conference on all-island infrastructural investment in Newcastle, Co Down, Mr Cowen said: "I, for one, am convinced that the Celtic Tiger phenomenon would not have been as powerful or as long-lasting without the achievement of peace on our island."

He said peace made an immediate and direct contribution by releasing resources for spending on health, education and transport which would otherwise have been devoted to security.

"By paving the way to a stable political environment, peace opens the way to new international investment, promotes local business activity and gives people the confidence to put their resources and efforts to work in the North. It also has an important and supportive impact on economic activity south of the Border," said Mr Cowen.

The business sectors on both sides of the Border have acknowledged that North/South economic co-operation was in the best interests of both parts.

"To be globally competitive we must exploit the opportunities of economic collaboration. We face many similar economic challenges. These include greater competition from low-cost locations, the need to improve investment in R&D, the need to deliver quality health and education services to our citizens and the need to build world-class infrastructure."

He said many of these issues would be addressed by the National Development Plan, which would include a number of North/South infrastructural issues.

The Government was already committed to investing heavily in projects that would directly benefit Northern Ireland, including the Dublin to Belfast road corridor, the new North-South gas pipeline and the second North-South electricity interconnector.

He said new projects would include the completion by 2013 of a high-quality road network on the inter-urban routes; the development of the Dublin-Belfast rail line; improved access for tourism and other opportunities along the eastern corridor; a significant upgrading of higher education capacity in the northwest; access for people from disadvantaged areas to higher education; studies on education and health co-operation; and improving cross-Border cancer services.