PSNI To Enforce Venue Entrance Requirements

The PSNI will enforce NI's Covid-19 passport rules, visiting licensed premises to ensure compliance, Justice Minister Naomi Long has said.

Venues that breach the new, legally enforceable, requirements could face a fine of up to £10,000.

Under the requirements, customers are required to show proof of vaccination, a negative test or evidence of their recent recovery from Covid-19.

The entry requirements were first introduced on 29 November, with a two-week grace period ahead of enforcement. This grace period has now ended.

Speaking to BBC NI's Good Morning Ulster programme, the Justice Minister and Alliance Party leader, said that enforcement was not about "trying to police our way out of a crisis but to encourage people to take Covid seriously".

She added: "There will be proactive policing with visits to licensed premises just to ensure the right measures are being taken.

"But the focus of this will be to support those proprietors who are trying to do their best. It's really where people are clearly not trying to comply with the advice."

She said further questions about enforcement would be "a matter for the chief constable".