Responding to the latest display of EU and Irish Government intransigence, former Ulster Unionist MEP, Jim Nicholson, said:
“I welcome the decision by the Secretary of State and Lord Frost to extend the grace periods until October. The only conclusion I can come to is that they were forced to do this because of the intransigence of Maroš Šefčovič and the EU.
“As for Mr Coveney, his regrets are far too late. Northern Ireland cannot be held to ransom by the EU. We have rights as people and we will not be strangled by EU bureaucracy and red tape.”