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Northern Ireland air travel capacity hit

Chris Page

BBC News Ireland correspondent

Flybe cancellations
BBC

Northern Ireland is particularly reliant on air links simply because of its geography.

To get to any other part of the UK from here, you have only two options - go by sea, or by air.

Local MPs stressed those circumstances in their questions in Parliament.

Stephen Farry from the Alliance Party said Northern Ireland had in effect lost 25% of its air travel capacity “overnight”.

The DUP’s Gavin Robinson - whose constituency has Belfast City Airport - said the government had been “large in ambition” for regional connectivity but “light on detail”.

The Transport Minister Kelly Tolhurst told the Commons she “absolutely recognised” Northern Ireland had specific concerns.

She pointed out that the Conservative Party manifesto contained a commitment to consider devolving short-haul Air Passenger Duty.

A report drawn up for Stormont last year said cutting APD would probably enhance Northern Ireland’s aviation connections - but would be unlikely to deliver value for money.

‘We accidentally posted a video about diabetes, and it went viral’

‘We accidentally posted a video about diabetes, and it went viral’
When Ellen and Beth posted a TikTok video before they went out for the night, little did they know it would go viral by morning.

The students from Northern Ireland happened to leave the blood sugar monitors, which are fixed to their arms and help them manage their type one diabetes, in shot and the world wanted to know more.

Now the two women from Belfast create TikTok videos - often just a few seconds long - as the Diabetic Duo to show what life with type one diabetes is really like, but in a lighthearted and sometime frivolous way - like the weirdest places they’ve injected insulin into themselves (think a cheerleading human pyramid) and what to do if your blood sugar levels drop at exactly the same time. 

The Diabetic Duo reveal what its like to become social media stars overnight and how unusual it is that two best friends would both, coincidentally, be diagnosed as type one diabetics, a predisposed condition not affected by lifestyle, which only affects 8% of all diabetics. 

if you have diabetes, please consult a health care professional before drinking alcohol.

Presented by Kate Monaghan and Simon Minty. 

Subscribe to Ouch as a podcast on BBC Sounds or ask your smart speaker for BBC Ouch.When Ellen and Beth posted a TikTok video before they went out for the night, little did they know it would go viral by morning.