Sir, – The Minister for Foreign Affairs has welcomed Britain’s decision to exclude travellers arriving from the Republic from their new Covid testing regime for travellers arriving from abroad.
We, however, have just decided that all travellers arriving from abroad, including Britain, will require a negative Covid test. While the Republic’s testing requirements are less onerous than Britain’s, it appears that the British are respecting the spirit and the practicalities of the Common Travel Area for these islands while we are not.
Given the Republic’s open border with Northern Ireland, surely we need to accept that there is little point in applying a testing regime to travellers arriving from Britain?
We are in this situation together.
– Yours, etc,
BEN WYNNE
Ranelagh,
Dublin 6.