Home NORTHERN IRELAND NEWS Return to work of DAERA port staff at Larne divides opinion

Return to work of DAERA port staff at Larne divides opinion

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Sinn Féin MLA Philip McGuigan has welcomed news that DAERA staff will return to work at the Port of Larne after being withdrawn due to reports of threats.

Philip McGuigan said: “I welcome the news that DAERA staff will return to work at the Port of Larne after being withdrawn following reports of threats.

“The safe return of workers is a priority and their safety must be paramount.

However a TUV councillor has said that ‘Sea border checks should permanently cease’.

TUV Bannside councillor Timothy Gaston said: “Checks at the Irish Sea border should never have been put in place.

“Once they were implemented by the DUP controlled department it seriously undermined the Union. Violence and threats of violence were always and always will be wrong. Unlike some in Northern Ireland politics, TUV has always been clear on this point. We continue to believe that the checks at the ports, which by law can only be carried out by Minister Lyons’s Department, should cease not in the face of threats but as a point of principle.

“I would appeal to the new Agriculture Minister to take the bold and decisive political action which is required to show that Unionists are serious about defending our place as an integral part of the United Kingdom.

“The danger which the Irish Sea border poses to our constitutional status is clear. It’s time to take the robust action necessary to defend the Union.”