Statement by TUV East Belfast candidate John Ross:
“In politics it is sometimes the case that people deny the obvious in order to further their agenda. Surely this must be the case with Mr Coveney who even while the institutions of the Belfast Agreement crumble around him because of the Protocol seeks to claim that no one is concerned about the Sea Border!
“People can see the economic and constitutional damage inflicted by the Sea Border. The extremely belated action by the DUP in recent weeks represents a desperate attempt to catch up with grassroots Unionism and loyalism.
“The reality on the ground is very different from what Coveney would try to tell us. It will take a great deal more than condescending lectures about what people really care about from southern politicians to change the attitude of Unionism to the EU’s attempts to claim Northern Ireland as part of its own territory and force us into an economic all Ireland.”