Mary Lou McDonald yesterday called for a “Fortress Ireland” strategy to beat coronavirus.
The Sinn Fein leader suggested a similar approach to the one adopted during the Foot and Mouth disease crisis in 2001 is what is needed to tackle the epidemic.
The entire island was treated as a single entity back then and there were strict restrictions on animals and people arriving North or South.
Ms McDonald told RTE Radio One: “When our national herd was in jeopardy and when it was necessary we adopted a Fortress Ireland approach and there was a lockdown to protect the island and our animals.
“My goodness, with the public health emergency, it’s pure common sense that we need an all- island and a unified approach in dealing with this pandemic.”
She emphasised her point by stating the Confederation of British Industry and Irish Business Employers Confederation have called for an all-Ireland economic recovery model and that should be applied to the Covid-19 crisis.
Ms McDonald also hit out at Leo Varadkar for raising false hopes of a possible easing of the lockdown on May 5. She said: “I think that was very unfair and I said it to the Taoiseach yesterday.
“He said that they wouldn’t be engaging in that kind of commentary again.
“I think that will be useful because what we need is not drip-fed information.”
