A spokesman for the Scottish Government told BBC Northern Ireland’s The View programme that it will “initiate discussions to explore improving connectivity between our two islands”.

The construction of a bridge or a tunnel has often been discussed and debated, but a proposal was also contained in the 2015 DUP manifesto.

Speaking to the BBC, East Antrim MP Sammy Wilson said: “We have got the most expensive stretch of water for ships and ferries to cross and sometimes it is disrupted by bad weather, etc.

“One of the suggestions we made was if you are going to go for blue sky thinking, huge infrastructure projects, why not look at the 22 miles between Northern Ireland and Scotland and build a bridge which would make travel less expensive and probably more certain.”

Last month, Professor Alan Dunlop from Liverpool University proposed the structure of a bridge and confirmed that a bridge connecting the two countries would be entirely possible.

It was suggested that a bridge stretching from Larne in County Antrim to Portpatrick in Dumfries and Galloway was the most practical option.

The original idea of connecting Scotland and Ireland has been around for over a hundred and thirty years.

Plans from the 1890s show tunnels stretching from counties Down and Antrim to the west of Scotland to carry trains.

Ultimately, despite much consideration, the tunnels were never built.