Irish Sea border freight checks 'not gone, just moved' says Stormont department

It comes after it emerged that 'seal checks' were suspended on cargo coming to Northern Ireland from Birkenhead Port in northern England.

Unionists have criticsed the suspension as evidence that rules can be bent if the Republic of Ireland is at risk of being inconvenienced.

The story began when Holyhead Port in north Wales - an important route to Dublin - was damaged in a recent storm.

Many of the lorries using it were re-routed to Birkenhead, creating the risk of a backlog there - hence the ending of 'seal checks' at the port.

The Department of Agriculture, the Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA) said that "seal checks refer to a process where DAERA staff check the seal on a lorry for goods moving from Great Britain to Northern Ireland".

It added that "these take place in Great Britain ports prior to boarding the ferry".

But it said that while they have been suspendded at Birkenhead, "this process has been moved to Northern Ireland on a temporary basis to ease traffic volumes at the Port of Birkenhead".

The TUV, UUP and DUP have all voiced criticism after news of the suspension emerged, with DUP MP Carla Lockhart saying on Friday: "For almost four years Northern Ireland has been cut-off from the rest of the United Kingdom, thanks to an EU-enforced de-facto border in the Irish Sea.

"NI’s current post-Brexit situation is untenable, and it’s totally unacceptable for the EU to ‘call the shots’ when it comes to Northern Ireland.

“The European Parliament in Brussels is a foreign jurisdiction, yet it legislates on over 300 areas of law which have a direct impact on our economy and agri-food industry.

“The nonsensical rules dreamt up by the EU have caused a number of significant and unresolved issues surrounding the movement of family pets, farm livestock, machinery, plants and veterinary medicines between GB and NI.”

Ms Lockhart added: “The internal sea border between Scotland and Northern Ireland, which the EU deems essential, causes problems on a daily basis for local consumers and businesses.

“We have listened for the past number of years how necessary the checks are, yet when it is to benefit ROI the internal sea border can be very easily and quickly suspended when the EU sees fit.

“The EU has no respect for Northern Ireland and this latest move proves that the Irish Sea border checks are a total farce and non-essential.”