Stormont's Health Minister is to consult with Northern Ireland’s Attorney General about the legality of a ban on travel from Britain.
Sinn Féin proposed such a ban to combat the potential spread of a new more contagious variant of Covid-19 during a remote meeting of the Northern Ireland Executive last night.
No decision was taken, with health minister Robin Swann asked to seek legal clarity and update the Executive today. In the meantime, the Executive has advised people not to travel to Northern Ireland from Tier 4 areas of Britain, where the new variant of coronavirus has been detected.
It has also changed regulations covering family bubbles over Christmas. The original five day period, 23-27 December, has been reduce to one day.