Statement by TUV leader Jim Allister:
“I am pleased that today’s North South Ministerial Council transport meeting will not go ahead after the DUP failed to appoint a minister to attend.
“If this is the beginning of a sustained campaign to disrupt the workings of the North/South aspects of the Belfast Agreement it is to be welcomed and something which I have called for for a number of months.
“There should be no ambiguity as to what is taking place today and why. If, as I hope it is, this is part of a campaign against the Protocol then it should be made crystal clear that this is the case.
“The North/South links cannot continue as if nothing has happened when our East/West relations have been trashed. Nationalism, Dublin and the EU need to get the message loud and clear that Unionism will not simply “suck it up” when it comes to the Protocol.
“However, such will only happen if the political action is determined and sustained. Therefore while today’s move is welcome it must be the beginning of a more robust political response to the Protocol and not something which the DUP find reverse gear on.”