Statement by TUV Ballymena councillor Matthew Armstrong:
“The apoplectic reaction of Nationalism to the suggestion of even a camera on the international border between the U.K. and the Republic of Ireland is in stark contrast to their quiet acceptance of Garda patrols on the southern side because of Covid-19 and the prospect of fines for anyone travelling into the state from Northern Ireland.
“For those who believed that the U.K. having joined the EU as one nation should have left as one, it exposes a great deal of the political discussion which has gone on over the last few years as so much cant and hypocrisy.
“You cannot on the one hand say that there cannot be a hard border over Brexit and yet impose one because of Covid – unless of course you are the EU and want to stop life saving vaccines coming to Northern Ireland or, indeed, the southern authorities.
“The Protocol was never about any phantom clause in the Belfast Agreement which allegedly ruled out a border. The howls for its imposition and “rigorous implementation” were all about undermining Northern Ireland’s constitutional status. Many of us could see that from day one. It’s now lit up in lights for all to see.”