GREATER COOPERATION BETWEEN the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland when introducing Covid-19 restrictions could be on the cards amid a spike in cases.

Two deaths and 814 new Covid-19 cases were confirmed in the Republic yesterday, as were 1,066 new cases and one further death in the North.

Speaking to BBC NI’s Sunday Politics yesterday, Minister of State for European Affairs Thomas Byrne said “closer alignment” is needed across the island of Ireland, adding that the Taoiseach and other political leaders are working on this.

“This island should be treated as one single epidemiological unit and shouldn’t be used then in a political context because at the moment our public health issues are far more important than any other considerations,” Byrne said. 

Sinn Féin’s Pearse Doherty and others have made similar comments about the need for an all-island approach.

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