THE British Government have published legislation which will see construction of customs posts at ports in Belfast and Larne.

The legislation usurps the Assembly, which had responsibility for the construction of the posts prior to its collapse.

Under the post-Brexit protocol, points of entry were to be constructed by the Department for Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA) carrying out EU animal health and food safety checks on agrifood products entering the North from Britain.

In February last year, then Agriculture Minister Edwin Poots ordered construction to be halted on the posts – a move which was later declared illegal by the courts. 

The construction of the posts will now come under the control of the British Government's Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) with responsibility for staffing remaining an issue for Stormont's Department for Agriculture.

Last month the UK Minister for Biosecurity Lord Benyon said: "The necessary construction has not taken place to date owing to wider concerns about the protocol's implementation.

"However, acting to deliver these facilities is pivotal to securing a viable and sustainable way forward on the protocol in relation to EU-destined goods."

Meanwhile, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar and Tánaiste Micheál Martin are in the North today for meetings with the five main parties, alongside the British Secretary of State.

In addition to this, British Labour Party leader, Keir Starmer has spent the day at Stormont meeting party representatives to discuss the issues which remain around the Protocol and the restoration of the Executive.

This follows discussions yesterday with the Secretary of State Chris Heaton-Harris and Foreign Secretary James Cleverly which were boycotted by both Sinn Féin and the SDLP after Sinn Féin President Mary Lou McDonald was barred from the meeting.