Latest news with #RobinSwann
BBC News
20-05-2025
- Politics
- BBC News
Michelle O'Neill and Arlene Foster to appear before Covid Inquiry
The Northern Ireland First Minister, Michelle O'Neill, and former First Minister Arlene Foster will appear before the Covid Inquiry on sitting in London will concentrate on Stormont's approach to testing, tracing and isolation during the will also hear from the former Ulster Unionist health minister, Robin Swann, and Chief Medical Officer Michael inquiry was ordered by the then prime minister Boris Johnson in May 2021 and public hearings began almost two years ago. Hearings are due to end next February. 'My actions angered families' O'Neill, who became first minister in February 2024, faced claims she broke coronavirus guidelines in June 2020 when she attended the funeral of leading Irish Republican Bobby had previously apologised for the hurt caused by her actions and any undermining of the public health message, but not for her attendance. She once said she would "never apologise for attending the funeral of a friend".But at the Covid Inquiry in May 2024 she said: "My actions compounded the hurt, my actions also angered families. I am sorry for going and I am sorry for the hurt that's been caused."When asked by the chair, Baroness Hallett, if she was aware of the hurt and anger at the time, O'Neill replied: "I didn't and I ought to have."Those hearings in Belfast also revealed the anger felt by former chief medical officer Michael McBride at how the executive had behaved during the pandemicThe inquiry was shown a text message sent by him which described it as "politics at its worst" and that they should "hang their heads in shame", although he did not refer to anyone in particular. Foster talked of 'regret' Baroness Foster, the former Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) leader, was first minister during the pandemic. When the inquiry met in Belfast last May she rejected suggestions the executive had "sleepwalked" during the reply to a claim by Clair Dobbin KC that it was "really difficult" to understand why basic response plans were not activated by the time it was declared, she said the idea "we would expose constituents to this in a wilful way is frankly offensive".She said she "totally and absolutely" rejected the claim, as the executive had been determined to work for the people of Northern former first minister insisted the executive had been receiving advice from health officials, and that the Department of Health was taking the lead on the initial response to the Foster was Northern Ireland's first minister from 2016 to 2017 and during the pandemic from January 2020 until she resigned on 14 June was leader of the DUP from 2016 to told the inquiry she accepted responsibility for how the executive handled the Covid pandemic, saying Northern Ireland should have locked down sooner than it did to prevent more she added: "We felt we had time and we didn't have time, and that's a source of great regret."It was, said Baroness Foster, the most difficult time of her political inquiry also heard Baroness Foster questioned about her party's controversial use of a cross-community vote mechanism in autumn 2020 to prevent some Covid rules from being extended.
The Independent
25-03-2025
- Business
- The Independent
Post-Brexit rules makes buying plants ‘impossible' in Northern Ireland, MPs say
Gardeners in Northern Ireland are still struggling to get hold of seeds and saplings because of post-Brexit rules, MPs have said. The Windsor Framework protocol means some are finding it 'impossible' to buy seeds for plants from Great Britain, with one MP reflecting that a garden centre in County Antrim had found it easier to get supplies from Japan than Scotland. Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) MP for South Antrim Robin Swann said the manager of Colemans in Ballyclare had been met with a 'wall of bureaucracy' when he tried to order from a Scottish supplier. He said: 'They have actually said for one of its suppliers based in Scotland, who got a new contract in Japan, that it is easier for that Scottish supplier to send plants to Japan than it is 14 miles across the water to Northern Ireland. 'Richard Fry, who is the manager of Colemans, has said when they engaged with that supplier they just see a wall that they come up against, that bureaucracy where they have to name everything that's on a pallet and in the trailer.' Post-Brexit rules created the Northern Ireland plant health label, NIPHL, which allows some plants, seeds and saplings to move between Great Britain and Northern Ireland if they comply with EU rules. Bans are still in place on others. Northern Ireland minister Fleur Anderson said it 'protects the UK internal market, while enabling the EU to be confident that its rules will also be respected'. The horticulture sector in Northern Ireland made £70 million in 2023, with mushrooms and vegetables making up £46 million according to Ms Anderson. Meanwhile wider agriculture was worth £2.87 billion. Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) MP Gregory Campbell (East Londonderry), who convened the Westminster Hall debate, said a group working with offenders at HMP Magilligan, County Londonderry to plant trees has found sourcing saplings difficult. Mr Campbell said: 'A local nursery that is telling me and telling others there is a huge problem, where we're told we can't bring in some of these saplings and the outcome of us not being able to do that, threatens the employment and the good work that nursery and the prison are doing to rehabilitate prisoners coming to the end of their sentences.' Mr Campbell added the rules did not stop people effectively smuggling seeds into Northern Ireland, by buying them in England and flying back with them. He continued: 'We as MPs, I as an MP from Northern Ireland am in Westminster today. Before the end of the week I will go to an airport, and on route to the airport, if I wanted I could go to a garden centre, and I could acquire the self same seeds, pay for them at the garden place, put them in my pocket, board the plane, arrive in Belfast, and there would be no checks. None whatsoever. 'And I can distribute, plant, sow or do whatever I want with those seeds in Northern Ireland, having taken them from the same nursery that won't supply online or by post to customers in Northern Ireland. So no wonder my local nursery says this is bizarre, and it needs to be resolved.' Ms Anderson said: 'There is one fundamental point that we must accept when discussing the matter raised by (Mr Campbell). 'As a result of having left the European Union, we have two trading entities, the European Union and the United Kingdom, and the ability to have different rules while seeking to ensure the freedom of movement of goods which is so vital for businesses, jobs and consumers across Northern Ireland and the rest of the United Kingdom. 'The practical outworkings of that situation are very much exemplified in the trading of horticultural goods.' She added: 'In matters relating to horticulture as in other sectors, this Government has sought to work to resolve challenges faced in constructive, and mutually beneficial ways. 'These are the actions of a responsible Government responding to the concerns of its citizens and abiding by its commitments in international law on the world stage.'
