O’neill calls for all- island disease plan

IRELAND and the UK need to align their approaches to the pandemic, the North’s Deputy First Minister said.

Sinn Fein vice- president Michelle O’neill warned the issue of travel is vital.

Speaking after a virtual meeting of ministers from around Ireland and the UK, she added: “We must be as aligned as we possibly can be and the issue of travel is crucially important as we move forward and out of wave two.

“We have had different approaches on this across the island and I think that has been really unhelpful.”

International arrivals in Dublin can cross the border into the North despite impediments to how visitors from Covid- 19 high- risk countries are monitored for self- isolation compliance once they do so.

Ms O’neill said: “The virus doesn’t stop because it’s moving from one jurisdiction to another, it moves very freely across this island.”