Mayor convening special meeting amid calls for a temporary halt to flights from Britain

The meeting will be held to discuss issues regarding the City of Derry Airport but will also be confidential, the Mayor said. Colr. Tierney also said that this was the earliest opportunity the meeting could be facilitated in line with Standing Orders.

It is expected that those issues will include the NI Executive split on whether to impose a travel ban and also the recent announcement by Ryanair that it will be forced to pull routes from Derry and numerous other routes across the UK due to regulatory changes.

Meanwhile Sinn Féin Councillor Sandra Duffy has supported calls for Derry City and Strabane District Council to look at what options can happen at City of Derry Airport to ban flights from Britain after the Assembly voted by majority not to enforce a ban.

Councillor Duffy said: “As Joint First Minister Michelle O’Neill has already said we are facing a very serious situation with the emergence of this new COVID variant in Britain.

“Sinn Féin proposed a travel ban to protect citizens and our health service which is under severe pressure. We were disappointed this proposal did not receive Executive support.

“In a local context there is a duty on us as elected representatives to look at what options can happen at City of Derry Airport around the issue of banning flights from Britain and what implications that would have for the council. “

Colr. Duffy also reiterated calls for an all-Ireland approach to tackling the pandemic. “This is not about politics, this about saving lives.”