Other News In Brief

Quarantine For Anyone Arriving Into NI From France

Anyone arriving into Northern Ireland from France must quarantine for ten days at home or in other accommodation, even if they are fully vaccinated against COVID-19, the Department of Health has announced.

From today, any one arriving from amber countries who have been fully UK vaccinated, will no longer have to quarantine, although they will still need to comply with necessary testing requirements. However, this will not apply to France following the persistent presence of cases in France of the Beta variant, which was first identified in South Africa.

Anyone who has been in France in the last ten days will need to quarantine on arrival to Northern Ireland in their own accommodation and will need a Day 2 and Day 8 test, regardless of their vaccination status. This includes any fully UK vaccinated individual who transits through France from either a green or another amber country to reach Northern Ireland.

This move today brings Northern Ireland in line with the rest of the UK.

Proposed Badger Cull 'Morally Indefensible'

The proposed cull of badgers, as part of a strategy to eradicate bovine tuberculosis from Northern Ireland, has been described as "morally indefensible" by Alliance MLA John Blair.

Mr Blair was speaking after the launch of a consultation into the strategy by the Department for Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs. Mr Blair said whilst he was supportive of many of the measures proposed by DAERA to combat the disease, he would strongly oppose intensive badger culling, which would lead to the destruction of protected wildlife on an unprecedented scale.

The South Antrim MLA said: "I recognise the challenges and costs faced by local farms affected by and tackling bTB, and an effective strategy to eradicate the disease is absolutely vital for the sector.

"There is, however, no justification for an indiscriminate cull of badgers in Northern Ireland and I am disappointed more ethical alternatives, such as badger vaccination and ‘test, vaccinate or remove’ approaches have not been proposed.

"I will continue to raise questions with the Department, scrutinise their approach to the bTB eradication and will be responding to the consultation. I urge those who care about the welfare of animals to do the same and make their views known."

Newtownabbey Roadworks To Start On 26 July

The Department for Infrastructure has announced that £150,000 worth of roadworks are set to begin on Mill Road, Newtownabbey on Monday 26 July.

The carriageway and footway resurfacing scheme will extend for a distance of approximately 0.5 kilometres from Shore Road to Longlands. The scheme will also upgrade approximately 780 metres of existing footway.

Announcing the works, Minister Nicola Mallon said: "This investment for Newtownabbey will greatly improve the strength and surface quality of this section of the road network to the benefit of local residents and visitors. I am also pleased that the upgrading of the existing footway will greatly enhance provision for pedestrians. I would like to thank local residents and businesses in advance for their cooperation and ask that they comply with all temporary traffic restrictions while these much needed works are completed."