Michael Cousins Acting Managing Editor

Good morning

Unionists and the Alliance Party have asked for clarity after it emerged that Michael D Higgins would not be present at the event in Armagh next month. It is understood the Queen has also been invited to the service, which is a focal point of a programme of events in 2021 to mark 100 years since the island of Ireland was partitioned. A spokesperson for the Irish president said he was “not in a position to attend”, but did not explain why.

Grim tidings were aired at a Stormont committee yesterday, as a haulage boss indicated that the protocol is such a “bureaucratic nightmare” that it may finish off his firm within months. Mark Tait was just one of a number of freight industry figures giving evidence about the Irish Sea border to MLAs on the finance committee, overseen by UUP MLA Steve Aiken.

Northern Ireland’s oldest married couple have passed away less than a year apart, both reaching the age of 102. Joseph Graham died in December last year and, following a spell in hospital and a nursing home, his wife Nellie passed away yesterday – nine days shy of what would have been the Randalstown couple’s 79th wedding anniversary. 

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