Poots recovering in hospital following emergency surgery
STORMONT Minister Edwin Poots was recovering well in hospital after successful emergency surgery on Sunday.
First Minister Arlene Foster said her DUP party colleague was “feeling much better” after undergoing urgent treatment on a perforated appendix.
The 55-year-old Minister for Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs, spoke to the Belfast Telegraph immediately before he was rushed to Belfast’s Royal Victoria Hospital by ambulance from his home outside Hillsborough, Co Down.
“I’m in terrible pain,” he said. “I started feeling unwell on Friday and it just got worse and worse.”
The DUP confirmed Mr Poots, an MLA for Lagan Valley, had an emergency operation to remove his appendix.
Economy Minister Diane Dodds stood in for Mr Poots in the assembly yesterday.
A DUP spokesperson said Mr Poots was “making a good recovery after theatre”.
“Ministerial colleagues will take care of any immediate DAERA (Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs) business in the Northern Ireland Assembly,” the DUP said.
Mrs Foster told the BBC’S Good Morning Ulste r programme that she had spoken to Mr Poots on Monday morning and he was feeling “much better”.
Social media was awash with messages of support for the DUP politician following news of his illness, including another former DUP health minister Jim Wells who said: “Wishing Edwin Poots all the best as he recovers in hospital after his surgery”.
It has been a difficult year for Mr Poots, who lost his 90-yearold father Charles on April 23.
In an interview with t his newspaper, Mr Poots told how he struggled to deal with his grief following the death of his dad, one of the founder members of the DUP.
“I saw him virtually every day in life,” he said.
“You just don’t anticipate him not being there and it comes as a bit of a shock to the system whenever it happens.”
Mr Poots, who lost his 64-yearold mum Ethel when he was 30, had been helping his ailing father to bed three nights a week in recent years.
“It’s hard that we don’t have his company or his friendship any more,” he said. “His direction and advice are all gone.”
Mr Poots has been highly critical of the lockdown restrictions imposed by the NI Executive to manage the virus.
He also came under fire after saying coronavirus is more common in nationalist areas
Two months ago the DUP man said the difference in transmission between nationalist and unionist areas was “around six to one”.
The Department of Health said it was vital to stress that Covid-19 represented “a threat to everyone in society, regardless of their background, and that it is spreading across the community” in Northern Ireland.
“For the record, data on Covid infections is not collected according to religious or political affiliation,” it added.
Sinn Fein’s John O’dowd condemned the assertion made by Mr Poots on BBC Radio Ulster’s Talkback programme at the time.
“His comments about the breakdown of the council areas and his hint that this is a Catholic problem is an absolute disgrace,” Mr O’dowd said.
“(They are) comments that he should withdraw — and comments he should apologise for.”
Alliance MP and the party’s deputy leader, Stephen Farry, also called for an apology.