Following the announcement of the suspension of SPS checks at Northern Ireland`s ports, Ulster Unionist Finance spokesperson, Steve Aiken OBE MLA, said:

“The actions of the DAERA Minister to suspend checks at the ports should not come as a surprise to anyone. It was well advertised based on genuine concerns.

“What the effect is on actual checks is uncertain, although most of them remain despite DUP blustering. The DUP is now trying to distance itself from what it was responsible for by supporting proposals from Boris Johnson on 2 October 2019 which included a border in the Irish Sea. However, the decision made by Minister Poots will have widespread ramifications. It is also clear from the Secretary of State`s comments that at the moment, the UK Government is unwilling to intervene. The use of legal advice, as reported in the media, of the previous Attorney General, rather than the Executive’s own Senior Legal Counsel, indicates we are also heading for a prolonged legal battle in our courts.

“These actions do not stop all checks at our ports, nor do they rid us of the Irish Sea Border. We are still in the same negotiating position today as we were last week and it will be through negotiation that the problems around the protocol will be fixed.

“No matter what, we are entering into a period of further instability just when we need to be focused on Covid recovery. We again call on the EU and UK Government to redouble efforts to sort out the debacle of the Protocol now before the Belfast agreement is irrevocably damaged.”