[ad_1]
The DUP has said it is “valuable to explore” a two-island Irish and UK approach to international travel as part of the response to the pandemic.
Westminster party leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson said there was plenty of room for cooperation in the Common Travel Area that operates between the two islands.
Tánaiste Leo Varadkar said last week that preliminary discussions on such an approach have started with the UK government.
When asked about an approach that would encompass England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, Donaldson said: “I think it’s worth exploring that, yes.”
He told Newstalk’s On The Record with Gavan Reilly: “As I said, it must be done in the UK and in the Common Travel Area.”
“I think there is a lot of scope for cooperation on the whole Common Travel Area issue,” Donaldson said.
“Certainly, in terms of international visitors entering the Common Travel Area, there is scope for further cooperation,” he said.
The UK has recently announced new and strict mandatory hotel quarantine measures for passengers arriving from 33 ‘red list’ countries.
Penalties of up to £ 10,0000 or 10 years in prison have been introduced for those who attempt to conceal that they are traveling from a red list country.
Ireland has announced its own list of 20 countries on the red list, but has diverted such severe penalties for non-compliance.
No news is bad news
Support the magazine
You contributions help us continue to deliver the stories that are important to you
Support us now
At a press conference last week, Varadkar endorsed a two-island approach.
“The best I think we can do is try to coordinate,” Varadkar said.
“Because if Northern Ireland is a back door for the Republic of Ireland, Ireland is a back door for Great Britain and England,” he said.
“The best we can do is work together on this, and I am a strong advocate of the strategy of the two islands, Great Britain and Ireland, as much as we can, aligning ourselves and working together.”
Donaldson criticized the fact that the Irish government did not share data with the Executive on passengers arriving in the Republic and who may be traveling to Northern Ireland.
He said: “With all due respect, this is not just about Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.”
“This is the UK as a whole, and the Republic of Ireland, because we know that at the moment there are difficulties, for example, in data exchange, which normally happens in the Common Travel Area,” said Donaldson.
“The Northern Executive has been waiting for more than 10 months for the Irish government to agree to share data on people who have entered the Republic of Ireland, through ports or airports, and are traveling to Northern Ireland.” He said.
“So, with the utmost respect, the difficulty here is not the unionists in the Northern Ireland Executive.
“I suggest you ask the relevant Irish government minister, why more than 10 months later, on foot of a request from the Northern Ireland Executive for data exchange, we are still waiting for the Irish government to approve that request.”
Another 176 people in Northern Ireland tested positive for Covid-19 in the past 24 hours.
Another 11 deaths have also been reported. One of the deaths occurred outside of the reporting period.
It brings the total number of virus-related deaths in Northern Ireland to 1,996.
[ad_2]