AN infectious diseases expert has called for stringent cross-border controls to curb the spread of coronavirus in Ireland.
Dr Jack Lambert, a consultant based at the Mater hospital in Dublin, said he believes the Irish government should put stricter road checkpoints in place and "stop the traffic".
While there has been a significant drop in vehicles crossing the border each day following the introduction of lockdown restrictions, the professor of medicine and infectious diseases believes authorities need to go further.
"There are thousands of people coming here every day from the north, getting into buses and cars together, mixing family groups," he said.
"I don't know if they're wearing masks in the vehicles, but at that distance they may not be effective.
"But they're travelling south and they're mixing with the community.
"People say where does this mysterious community come in from in many positive cases. Well, this is one answer.
"Instead of having a tier 5 lockdown, the government would do better to look at this kind of behaviour, put checkpoints on the border and stop the traffic, Dr Lambert told the Irish Mail on Sunday.
Latest figures show that the number of vehicles in northern border towns travelling south dropped sharply during the pandemic, compared to the same period last year.
Newry, which has the busiest crossing, recorded an average number of 17,666 vehicles this year, a decrease from 25,721 in 2019, according to Transport Infrastructure Ireland, which analyses and reports traffic data in the Republic. The number of vehicles recorded last Friday was 14,699.
Near Strabane, the average this year is 9,743, a drop from 12,206 in 2019. Similarly on the border near Aughnacloy, the number of vehicles recorded went down from 6,350 to 4,854. At Beleek, the number dropped from 12,206 to 9,743 this year.
In an opinion piece for the Irish Times last month prior to the introduction of 'level 5' lockdown in the Republic, Dr Lambert also expressed his frustration about the border.
"We had an opportunity to safely open the country and to secure our borders, and develop workable “red” and “green” lists, similar to our EU neighbours and indeed those around the world," he said.
"We were listening to the “experts of the day” and our politicians saying we should adopt a New Zealand model, knowing that would never work, as New Zealand does not have a border with Northern Ireland. We wasted time and our economy has suffered."
