Intervention by Poots is confirmation of disunity in Executive

It was widely known at the start of this week that the DUP was fighting off demands from both medical advisers and other political parties for a more comprehensive lockdown.

It is believed that the other parties on the Executive wanted schools to be closed for longer than the extra week that was eventually agreed. The DUP was also more sympathetic to the plight of the hospitality sector which faces more hardship as it closes its doors for at least four weeks.

The timing of Mr Poots’s intervention yesterday, as the bulk of the restrictions were about to come into force, demonstrated that the DUP wanted the extent of its unease to be public knowledge.

The sense of an Executive all at sea was heightened last night as it was claimed that supporters were banned from attending the Irish Premiership football match between Coleraine and Ballymena. But First Minister Arlene Foster said later that fans could still attend elite sport.

Meanwhile, reports of various hospitals already at bursting point with Covid-19 patients at a comparatively early stage of a second wave are a huge concern. It begs massive questions about the contingency arrangements that have been put in place by the Department of Health.