Former talk show host turned chairman of the Republic's National Safety Council Gay Byrne today heard calls for common road signs to tackle speeding on both sides of the border.
The issue was raised by SDLP Assembly members from Northern Ireland during talks in Dublin with Gay Byrne and the chief executive of the new council, Noel Brett.
The party's regional development spokesperson Margaret Ritchie, who was joined by Assembly colleagues PJ Bradley and John Dallat, said the National Safety Council's team had expressed an interest in an all-island approach.
"It is clear that an all-Ireland approach with all-Ireland standards and procedures is in the best interests of all road users," the South Down MLA said.
"For example, an integrated approach to road signage and marking could help many people and tourists in particular who cross the Border regularly.
"At the moment motorists crossing the border get one set of signs with speed limits measured in kilometres per hour and another in miles per hour.
"Common problems require common solutions and this is yet another example of how joint up action between North and South makes sense.
"The National Safety Council are keenly aware of the need to improve our road safety record not only in the south but across the island."
As the Minister for Transport Minister Martin Cullen got Cabinet approval for his Road Safety Bill, the delegation also met Minister of State Pat 'the Cope' Gallagher.
They raised a number of issues including the need for an all-Ireland transport body and infrastrucutral issues such as the Derry to Belfast rail line, the Castledawson to Derry road and the construction of a narrow water bridge linking the Kingdom of Mourne to the Cooley peninsula.
"We believe that the SDLP and the Irish Government are on the same wavelength on the need for cohesion and connectivity in all infrastructure products on this island," Margaret Ritchie observed.
"This includes a need for joined up approaches on road, rail, port and airport infrastructures so that investments and upgrades are made in parallel and complement each other, not back to back without any joint planning.
"It is clear that following a short-sighted separate approach will only cause problems and cost money in the future."
The SDLP Assembly member said the Government was prepared to do a huge amount of work up to the border to create an impetus for completion on the northern side.
"They believe, as we do, that an all Ireland agenda gives the best guarantee of value for money in infrastructural investment," she said.
"We hope that the investments in road and rail infrastructure announced by the southern government recently will bring parallel investment in the northern side."