Alliance MLA John Blair has asked the new DAERA Minister, Gordon Lyons MLA, to make a commitment that any threats of violence will not be used to influence government policy.

Mr Blair was speaking in the Assembly on Tuesday afternoon as the fallout from changes to staffing at Larne Port continued to play out.

He said: “Whatever your views on the Northern Ireland Protocol and the way to deal with it going forward, we cannot allow rising tensions to dictate how we act in the days and weeks ahead.

“We have a new Minister, from a Party determined to blame everyone else for the situation Northern Ireland now finds itself in. Political views cannot come into this already challenging time.

“Agri food sector representatives have made clear their concerns over food supplies as a result of unfolding events. The focus must now be on working together, on cool, calm heads and of a quieting of the rhetoric that has already done so much damage, allowing the Department to focus on resolving the immediate issues before us.”