Council duo to meet unions over Larne port checks staff security concerns statement

A meeting is due to take place between Mid and East Antrim’s Mayor and Chief Executive with trade union officials in the coming days following a statement issued at a recent council meeting in relation to security concerns regarding Port of Larne staff.
Watch more of our videos on Shots! 
and live on Freeview channel 276
Visit Shots! now

Twelve environmental health staff were withdrawn from inspection duties over “concerns for their safety and welfare”.

The council stated at the time: “Trade unions on behalf of council members of staff assisting with the checks at the port have raised serious concerns around increasing suspicious activity such as apparent information gathering, including the taking of personal registration plates from their vehicles.”

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

A joint statement subequently issued on behalf of trade unions NIPSA, Unite and GMB has called on Mid and East Antrim Borough Council to withdraw remarks attributed to trade unions and to apologise.”

Mayor Cllr Peter JohnstonMayor Cllr Peter Johnston
Mayor Cllr Peter Johnston

A spokesperson for Mid and East Antrim Borough Council said: “Mid and East Antrim Borough Council and the unions share a commitment to always prioritise and protect the best interests of council employees.

“With this in mind, the Mayor and Chief Executive plan to meet with union officials in the coming days.

“The Mayor has clarified publicly remarks made at a meeting of full council and is happy for the avoidance of any doubt to reiterate that comments made were in relation to correspondence from a trade union and other stakeholders. The reference to number plates was not within the union correspondence, and council is happy to clarify this again.”

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Meanwhile, Alliance has called for a special meeting to discuss the issue.

Larne Lough Alliance Councillor Danny Donnelly said:  “Ratepayers in Mid and East Antrim deserve the truth about the timeline of events which led to the recent removal of workers from the border control post in Larne.

In a statement, he added: “Over the past two weeks, more and more apparent discrepancies have appeared over what exactly happened in the run up to the decision to remove staff from Larne Port.

“This was a move which had great significance, as it acted as the catalyst for growing tensions across Northern Ireland.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

“While the safety of staff is obviously paramount and there was no question of doing anything other than protecting them, conflicting reports since then from the council, PSNI and trade unions demonstrate at the least a breakdown in communication at some point.

“Councillors need to know how this happened but in addition, our ratepayers deserve the truth about the timeline of events and have outstanding questions answered.

“I thank those councillors who have signed our request for this meeting – should take place during working hours to keep costs down – and I appeal to all the others to think how this episode has reflected on the reputation of the borough.”

Michelle Weir, Local Democracy Reporter

Click here to read: ‘Serious questions’ over removal of council staff from Larne port, says Alliance

--

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Thank you for reading this article. We’re more reliant on your support than ever as the shift in consumer habits brought about by coronavirus impacts our advertisers. Please consider purchasing a copy of the paper. You can also support trusted, fact-checked journalism by taking out a digital subscription of the News Letter.