Northern Ireland Executive to discuss international travel on Thursday, Arlene Foster confirms

She said it would be “absolutely wrong” to prejudge what ministers will decide but that it is “safe to say we will be discussing international travel”.

Asked whether ministers will discuss when hugging will be allowed again, Ms Foster said the Executive has noted developments in the rest of the UK after Prime Minister Boris Johnson said people in England would be able to hug each other “with caution” from May 17.

“We will want to discuss that tomorrow, it is something we are discussing today amongst ourselves as well. We know that there is a lot of people who have been waiting for that time, I know certainly I have in terms of my own mother, so I am looking forward to being able to have those discussions tomorrow,” she said.

Deputy First Minister Michelle O’Neill added: “We are hoping that we’ll be able to make some progress around all these things, we are in a really good place in terms of the pandemic, we are winning.

“The Covid vaccine continues to be first class, so if things keep moving in the right direction we hope to be able to lift even more of the restrictions that are in place and get back to some sense of normality.”