Taoiseach Micheál Martin has spoken to the European Commission’s president to express concerns over EU plans to block the supply of Covid-19 vaccinations into Northern Ireland.
In an unexpected move on Friday, the European Union triggered Article 16 of the Northern Ireland Protocol on Brexit, in a bid to prevent Northern Ireland from being used as a back door to funnel coronavirus vaccine from the bloc into the rest of the UK.
It comes amid the ongoing row between the EU and vaccine supplier AstraZeneca over the number of vaccines made available to the bloc.
Mr Martin spoke to European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen on Friday evening to discuss the matter.
A Government spokesperson said: “We are aware of the issue and the Taoiseach is currently in discussions with European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen to express our concerns.”
Minister for Foreign Affairs Simon Coveney tweeted: “We are working with the EU Commission to try to resolve this issue and protect the integrity and operation of the NI Protocol.”