Call for ‘aligned’ north-south Covid rules at Christmas
North #North
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]]> Reports that Leo Varadkar wants the Irish government to advise against travel from the Republic of Ireland to Northern Ireland over Christmas have been criticised.
The tánaiste (Irish deputy PM) reportedly made the remarks to a meeting of his parliamentary party.
Sinn Féin said it showed “no awareness” of cross-border communities.
DUP and SDLP politicians called for better communication between Stormont and Dublin over Covid-19 restrictions.
An Irish government spokesman declined to comment on
]]> claims people could be told not to travel north, which were first reported by the Irish Independent.
RTÉ reported the issue could be discussed by the Irish cabinet’s Covid-19 sub-committee this evening.
A spokesman for Leo Varadkar said the Fine Gael meeting where he was reported to have raised the issue was “private”.
However, he referred to remarks Mr Varadkar made in the Dáil (Irish Parliament) on Tuesday about the “real risk” of north-south travel within Ireland.
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]]> ‘Not surprised’
DUP MP Sir Jeffrey Donaldson said he was “not surprised” that the Irish government would advise people not to travel to Northern Ireland while Covid restrictions are in place.
Speaking to RTÉ, the Lagan Valley MP said there needed to be “better communication” between the Irish government and the Northern Ireland Executive about coronavirus, and the executive often first heard of decisions taken in Dublin “in the media”.
He added: “How can the Northern Ireland Executive take account of what is happening in the republic if we don’t know what is being planned in the republic?”
“There should be and can be co-operation.”
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]]> image captionSir Jeffrey Donaldson said better cooperation was needed between the Irish government and NI Executive ]]>
Calls for united response
SDLP leader Colum Eastwood said Dublin and Stormont should “align our restrictions as far as possible north and south” over Christmas.
A Sinn Féin spokesperson said closing the borders showed no understanding of those who crossed it daily.
They said: “It shows no awareness of the realities of the life along border communities, where family members live on both sides of the border and where tens of thousands cross the border daily to work, to go to school, or to access health and other services.”
NI’s approach has ‘consequences’
On Tuesday Mr Varadkar told the Dáil Northern Ireland had a higher infection and mortality rate.
“The incidence of the virus in Northern Ireland is a multiple of what it is in this state and so is the mortality rate.
“Northern Ireland is a different jurisdiction and makes its own decisions under the Good Friday Agreement. We respect that.
“However, we would be in denial not to recognise that a less intensive approach to the virus there, since the start, has its consequences.”
image copyrightEPA image captionMr Varadkar spoke about cross-border travel in the Daíl earlier in November
The Republic of Ireland is five weeks into a six-week lockdown, during which people are living under the government’s highest level of public health restrictions.
Northern Ireland’s Covid regulations are less strict, but Stormont has imposed a two-week “circuit breaker” from Friday which, along with other measures, will see all non-essential retail close for the first time since the summer.
The circuit breaker was announced prior to a UK-wide agreement which will see rules relaxed across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland for a five-day period of Christmas.
Up to three families will be allowed to form exclusive social bubbles in the UK between 23 and 27 December.
When the agreement was announced on Sunday, UK ministers said they “also recognised that people will want to see family and friends across the island of Ireland, and this is the subject of discussions with the Irish government”.
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