Police are BACK on Irish border... but now they're on Covid watch: Gardai stop drivers on M1 between Belfast to Dublin to check if they're permitted to travel - as highest-level lockdowns are imposed on both sides of the crossing
The Garda are back on the Irish border and carrying out checks on drivers after the highest-level lockdowns were imposed on both sides of the frontier. Officers have not carried out such stringent checks on vehicles from Ulster since the days of the Troubles when the IRA moved guns and Semtex into the war-torn province. Now they are on the lookout for people making non-essential journeys after the Republic this week imposed swingeing Level 5 restrictions which ban people from travelling more than three miles (5km) from their home. Stormont has advised citizens against 'unnecessary travel,' but Dublin's measures are more aggressive and its police wield the threat of jail time and hefty fines. On Wednesday night, when Ireland's new six-week national lockdown began, gardai were given new powers by Dublin to prosecute people making non-essential travel, with fines of up to €2,500 and jail for up to six months. Cars at the border crossing between Northern Ireland and the