Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Brexit fears spark surge in shipping demand
Tragic girl’s mum tells inquest kidnap theory
IRISH Sea shipping services are experiencing a surge in demand as businesses stockpile amid continuing uncertainty around postbrexit trading arrangements.
Stena Line, which transports 65% of the freight moving between Northern Ireland and Great Britain, has chartered an extra ship to meet the capacity requirements.
Despite a year that has seen overall demand for freight services hit by the pandemic, dipping by as much as 30% in April, the volume of stock Stena Line moved across the Irish Sea last week was up 6% on the same week in 2019.
Stena Line’s Irish Sea trade director Paul Grant said: “We’re seeing big demand pre-brexit.
“I think you can see people are anxious to get their stuff across and make sure they’ve got enough stock
TO MALAYSIAN INQUEST
ahead of January 1.” That date marks the end of the Brexit transition period and the commencement of trading arrangements governed by the Northern Ireland Protocol.
Under that pact, which is contained in the Brexit Withdrawal Agreement, Northern Ireland will remain in the EU single market for goods.
That will require additional
SHY Nora Quoirin was “kidnapped” then dumped in the Malaysian jungle, her mother believes.
Meabh Quoirin, 47, from Belfast, told an inquest she heard “whispering” and felt someone close while drifting in and out of sleep on the first night of their holiday.
She said the 15-year-old’s “captors” may have dumped her due to the huge publicity and police search. Nora’s body was found after 10 days.
Mum-of-three Meabh tearfully told a coroner there were “many reasons” to suggest kidnap – such as organ collection, child trafficking, sexual abuse, an interrupted burglary and even local spiritual rituals.
She arrived in Kuala Lumpur on August 3 last year after a business trip, meeting her husband and kids at the airport. A local man drove them to the Dusun resort, an hour away. They went to bed at 10pm, noticing that their chalet window was faulty and did not lock.
Meabh said Nora had a condition which left her with a smaller brain and a school age of five or six, and was “deeply nervous”. She said Nora shared her sister’s bed.
The mum, of Wandsworth, South West London, said: “I distinctly remember being aware of muffled sounds in the chalet. It almost felt very close and there was some movement, possibly things being moved around. It sounded like there was a conversation but in a very whispered voice.”
Around 8am the next day, husband Sebastian went to wake Nora but she was not there. Meabh said she “panicked” and ran to reception: “The first thought to flash through my mind was ‘Nora had been taken’. It was physically and cognitively absolutely impossible Nora would even notice a window.”
A police officer arrived with an old “exhausted” search dog who was not up to the task.
Meabh did not believe Nora could have made it to the area where she was found.
The inquest continues in Kedah, Malaysia. sanitary and phytosanitary checks on animal-based products entering Northern Ireland from Great Britain.
The UK and EU have yet to agree a practical framework which could potentially minimise the number of new regulatory checks required.
Mr Grant added it is “amazing” there is still uncertainty over the level of checks required with only seven weeks to go before the protocol comes into force.