Statement by TUV East Londonderry spokesperson Jordan Armstrong:
“Yesterday’ announcement by the Prime Minister that restrictions will end in England will be widely welcomed. Throughout the pandemic Northern Ireland has lagged behind the rest of the UK. People are increasingly making their own decisions and judgement calls. The emphasis of Mr Johnstone on personal responsibility is welcome. The public are growing increasingly tired with restrictions given the success of our vaccination program which has been repeatedly cited as the route out of the pandemic.
“That said, the comments of the chief scientific adviser this morning that we will be held back by the failure of the Republic to match the speed and efficiency of the UK vaccination rollout are depressing.
“Few things have more starkly illustrated the benefits of being part of the UK in recent years than the utter shambles of the rollout in the Republic and indeed across the entire EU.
“There should be no question of Northern Ireland being held back, with the public and businesses kept under lockdowns which are economically and physiologically ruinous to the population because of failures in a foreign country.
“It is the duty of the Executive to defend its people from infection and if that means border controls and restraints on those travelling from the Republic then, so be it.”